Research Interests: Education, Inequality and Segregation, Disabilities, Teachers, Math and Science
Projects: Shifrer’s research broadly focuses on the effects of inequality outside of schools on processes inside schools and educational outcomes. Recent studies use quantitative methodologies to apply this lens to neurological disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, autism, ADHD), the experience of teaching, and youth’s social psychological health. A CAREER award from the National Science Foundation supports her research on the school and teacher factors that reduce disparities by socioeconomic status, race, and disability in adolescents’ math and science progress. Shifrer is a research affiliate at Rice University’s Houston Education Research Consortium. Prior to entering academia, Shifrer taught math at two middle schools at the opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum.
Courses Taught:
Graduate Level Quantitative Methods
Sociology of Education
Classic Sociological Theory (Foundations of Sociology I)
Contemporary Sociological Theory (Foundations of Sociology II)
Social Psychology I: Self, Attitudes, and Social Influence
Social Psychology II: Social Relationships and Groups