Department of Sociology

Dr. Rob Freeland joined the Sociology faculty in 2022. 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. His research and teaching interests span social stratification, social psychology, and quantitative methods. His research explores 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. His current project centers on occupations and their meanings. One recent paper examined how COVID altered our perceptions of different workers, another examined how the various kinds of work we perform affect the interactions and emotions we are likely to experience in the workplace, and a third examined the perceived gender composition of different occupations and the factors that bias these estimates. He teaches Wealth, Power, & Privilege, Stats, and Applied Sociology, and his favorite course is Sociological Perspective because it allows him to bring sociology to new audiences.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1000: The Sociological Perspective
• SOC 3895: Social Statistics and Data Analysis
• SOC 4390: Applied Sociology
• SOC 4750: Wealth, Power, and Privilege

Research Interests

• Stratification
• Social Psychology
• Quantitative Methods

Recent Publications

Freeland Robert E., Lynn Smith-Lovin, Kimberly B. Rogers, Jesse Hoey, and Joseph M. Quinn. Forthcoming. “Perceived Occupational Gender Composition: A Census and Exploration.” Advances In Group Processes.

Quinn, Joseph M., Robert E. Freeland, Em K. Maloney, Kimberly B. Rogers, and Lynn Smith-Lovin. Forthcoming. “Meaning Change in U.S. Occupational Identities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Was It Temporary or Durable?” Social Psychology Quarterly

Aidan Combs, Robert E. Freeland, Katelin M. Alfaro Hudak, and Elizabeth A. Mumford. 2023. “The Effect of Occupational Status on Health: Putting the Social in Socioeconomic Status.” Heliyon Cell Press 9(11):e21766 Freeland, Robert E., Deena R. Battista, Michael Polster, Robyn Chae, Nicole Dianno, and Kimberly Frost-Pineda. 2023. "Purchase Intent and Product Appeal of Velo Nicotine Pouches Among Current Tobacco Users and Nonusers of Tobacco." Contributions to Tobacco & Nicotine Research 32(3): 66-76.