Marissa Thompson

Marissa Thompson is an assistant professor of sociology at Columbia University. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of racial and socioeconomic inequality, with an emphasis on understanding the role of education in shaping disparate outcomes over the life course.

Thompson’s current research explores, for example, parental preferences regarding school segregation, the causal effects of first-dollar scholarship policies on college access, and the role of genetic ancestry tests in racial boundary-making processes. She employs a range of quantitative and computational methods using large national datasets, administrative data, survey data, and novel survey experiments.

Prior to beginning her role at Columbia, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology of Education & Education Policy from Stanford University, an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford University, and a BSE in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.