2005-2006 Dissertation Fellows

Amy Bailey

Amy Bailey is a doctoral candidate in sociology and a fellow of the West Coast Poverty Center. Her research encompasses stratification, race & ethnicity, demography, and comparative & historical sociology. She is specifically interested in the ways in which social institutions affect demographic processes and the ways in which these effects may differ by gender, race/ethnicity, or social class.

Ms. Bailey’s dissertation, The Effect of Veteran Status on Spatial and Social Mobility: Outcomes for Black and White Men in the Late 20th Century, focuses on the role of the military in the social mobility of members of disadvantaged groups. Specifically, she hypothesizes that veterans may use spatial mobility as a mechanism to attain socioeconomic mobility, and that this strategy may have attained increasing importance in the era of the All-Volunteer Force.

Her other research interests focus on lynching in the American south, educational attainment among migrant groups, and the relationship between democratic movements and fertility patterns.

WCPC Funded Project:

Measuring the Impact of Military Service on Residential and Socioeconomic Mobility Amy Kate Bailey, Department of Sociology, "Race, Place and Veteran Status: Black and White Migration Patterns Since the Mid-Twentieth Century," Faculty Supervisor: Steward E. Tolnay, Department of Sociology

The financial, educational and occupational benefits of military service provide a route out of poverty for many poor Americans. Military service may also affect socioeconomic mobility through residential mobility, moving individuals out of economically-stressed communities and giving them access to locations that offer greater educational and occupational opportunities. This study will examine the impact of military service on later residential mobility and settlement in high-opportunity locations, and test whether the benefits of increased spacial mobility vary with race and gender.