Lauren Harris is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on family formation, gender inequality, and the role of relationships and family in the life course. She is particularly interested in the changing meanings and compositions of family, including older adult singlehood and repartnering; patterns of women's work and family organization; and the elements of delaying or foregoing marriage and parenthood.
Lauren is currently working on her dissertation, which explores the experiences and processes of singlehood, dating, and (re)partnering among older adults. She is conducting interviews with women and men ages 60-79 who have used online dating platforms.
Prior to attending Penn, Lauren worked as a Survey Specialist at Mathematica Policy Research, focusing on survey design and data collection for social program evaluations.
MA, Sociology - University of Pennsylvania
Graduate Certificate, Survey Research - University of Massachusetts-Boston
MA, Applied Sociology - University of Massachusetts-Boston
BA, Sociology and Political Science (Magna Cum Laude) - Emmanuel College (Boston)
Family, family formation, gender, the life course, social stratification, work and gender, feminism and sociology of reproduction, qualitative research methods
Instructor:
Soc 102: Society, Culture, and the Individual (Spring 2022, at Bryn Mawr)
Soci 001: Introduction to Sociology (Summer 2019; Fall 2021)
PFP: Family Change and Inequalities (Summer 2020; Summer 2021)
Soci 004: The Family (Spring 2021)
Teaching Assistant:
Soci 100: Introduction to Sociological Research (Fall 2017)
Soci 122: Sociology of Gender (Fall 2018)
Soci 137: Sociology of Media and Pop Culture (Spring 2018, Spring 2019)
Harris, Lauren E. 2020. Committing Before Cohabiting: Pathways to Marriage Among Middle-Class Couples. Journal of Family Issues. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0192513X20957049
Furstenberg, Frank F., Lauren E. Harris, Luca Maria Pesando, and Megan N. Reed. 2020. Kinship Practices Among Alternative Family Forms in Western Industrialized Societies. Journal of Marriage and Family. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/RZMUVBVRMNYM6FZIGURN?target=10.1111/jomf.12712