Identity and Inequality

Combining economics, sociology, psychology, history to discuss identity and its importance for processes of inequality.
One-Time Event | Workshop
Location The Sky Suite at The Keller Center, Harris School of Public Policy, 1307 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637
Organizers Jane Cooley Fruehwirth, Mesmin Destin, Steven Durlauf, Ariel Kalil
Research Areas Social Interactions

Identity can be broadly defined as a person’s complex and dynamic understanding of who they are. Identity is shaped by ongoing interactions between individuals, their social contexts, and broader systems of inequality. It includes ideas a person has about their key characteristics, group memberships, life narratives, and possible futures. The Identity and Inequality workshop endeavors to combine the strengths of economics, sociology, psychology, history, and other relevant disciplines to discuss theory, measurement, and modeling of questions related to identity with a particular focus on its importance for understanding processes related to inequality in the pursuit of human capital. We aim for a cross-disciplinary understanding that spurs new ideas. We also hope to generate theoretical and empirical insights into the factors that shape people’s multiple and overlapping identities and the consequences of those identities and related processes for inequalities in life outcomes including achievement, labor market outcomes, family formation, and well-being.  

 

Participation is by invitation only.