Erin Ann Cech is an American sociologist who is an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Her research considers inequalities, gender and sexuality. Her first book, ''The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfilment at Work Fosters Inequality'', was published in 2021.

Early life and education

Cech was an undergraduate student at

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

, where she majored in electrical engineering and sociology. She was awarded the Women's Center Student of Achievement award in 2005 and served on the College of Engineering Women in Engineering Advisory Council. Cech has said that as a student who identified as LGBTQ+ in a highly masculine environment she became motivated to explore inequality in science and engineering. She moved to the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

for doctoral studies, where she studied the roles of gender schemas in major selection at college. Cech was a postdoctoral researcher at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where she worked in the

Clayman Institute for Gender Research Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...

Research and career

Cech was appointed to the faculty at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, then moved to the

in 2016, where she studied inequality and how inequality is reproduced through various aspects of society. She has investigated the recruitment of people from historically marginalized groups (communities of color, LGBTQ+ people, women and gender minorities) and how workplace culture perpetuate this inequity. She has investigated how cultural assumptions can drive inequality, for example, the "passion principle", where people of certain genders are more likely to take on seemingly voluntary roles. Cech showed that sparse family-leave policies in the United States meant that 43% of mothers who had scientific careers left the workforce after their first child. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Cech studied job instability and workers' career decisions. She found that people's lives were so unsettled that they pursued nonfinancial properties instead of work. She found that people with unstable jobs prioritized passion for work over job security. In 2022 Cech conducted a survey on 25,000 researchers working in STEM-related fields. Her findings revealed that straight, white, able-bodied men were more likely to be successful in scientific careers than people from other groups.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cech, Erin Living people University of California, San Diego alumni Montana State University alumni University of Michigan faculty American sociologists LGBT studies academics American LGBT scientists Year of birth missing (living people)