Department of Sociology

Dr. Rob Freeland joined the Sociology faculty in 2022. His research and teaching interests span social stratification, social psychology, and quantitative methods.  He received a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona, an MA in Sociology from UNC
Charlotte, and a PhD in Sociology from Duke.  He enjoys teaching courses on theory and Inequality such as Classical Sociological Theory and Wealth, Power, &  Privilege as well as applied courses like Research Methods, Applied Sociology, &  Senior Capstone. His favorite
course is Sociological Perspective because it allows him to bring sociology to new audiences.  His research centers on exploring how subjective aspects of society like status, identity, and cultural meanings affect inequality by gender, race, and class. His work has been published in the American Sociological Review, Social Psychology Quarterly, and American Behavioral Scientist. In a recent study, he developed a new approach to measure how gendered sentiments affect the wage gap and, in another study, explored how perceptions of occupational identities
changed during Covid. He is currently working on a collaborative project to compile a data dictionary of occupational cultural sentiments.

RESEARCH & TEACHING INTERESTS

• Status & Power

• Social Stratification of Gender, Race and Class

• Quantitative Methods

• Work and Occupations

PUBLICATIONS

Quinn, Joseph M.,  Robert E. Freeland, Jesse Hoey, Kimberly B. Rogers, and Lynn Smith-Lovin. Forthcoming. “How Cultural Meanings of Occupations in the U.S. Changed During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” American Behavioral Scientist

Freeland, Robert E. and Catherine E. Harnois. 2020. “Bridging the Gender Wage Gap: Gendered Cultural Sentiments, Sex-Segregation, and Occupation-Level Wages.” Social Psychology Quarterly 83(2): 129-151.

Freeland, Robert E., Robin Gauthier, and Lynn Smith-Lovin. 2019. “Macrolevel Determinants of Network Ties in Neighborhoods and Voluntary Associations: Does Internet Penetration at the Country Level Make a Difference?” Sociological Review of China 7(1): 18-35.