Jessica Calarco


Jessica McCrory Calarco is an American sociologist and a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research considers inequalities in education and family life. She has published three books, Negotiating Opportunities, A Field Guide to Grad School, and Qualitative Literacy.
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Early life and education

Calarco studied sociology and education at Brown University. She moved to the University of Pennsylvania for graduate studies, where she earned a master's degree and a doctorate in sociology. Her doctoral research looked at social class and how children look for help in elementary school. She then taught at Indiana University before moving to her current role at Wisconsin.

Research and career

Calarco is interested in using ethnographic observations to understand K-12 teaching. She has studied how students secure unfair advantages in education, including how young people from privileged families are trained to negotiate with teachers and how students without computer access suffer as classes go online. Her research showed that middle class students consistently advocated for themselves, expecting exemptions from conventional rules and talking themselves out of difficult situations. On the other hand, working-class students expected consequences, accepted punishments and deferred to authority.
Calarco has studied how inequalities impact the decision making of families, including better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the paid work of parents.

Awards

Selected publications

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