2005-2006 Dissertation Fellows

Raine Dozier

Raine Dozier holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington. Her research interests include economic inequality, work, gender, and race/ethnicity. Her dissertation, for which she was awarded a fellowship from the West Coast Poverty Center and the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, examines the growth in the black-white wage gap among women. An initial paper from this research was awarded Best Graduate Student Paper from the Race, Gender, and Class section of the American Sociological Association and the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, University of Washington. Further research examines broader trends in African-American, Latina, and white women’s economic well-being in the United States.

WCPC Funded Project:

Explaining the Widening Black-White Gap in Women’s Earnings Raine Dozier, Department of Sociology, "Accumulating Disadvantage: The Growth in the Black-White Wage Gap Among Women," Faculty Supervisor: Becky Pettit, Department of Sociology

By 1980, the hourly wages of African American women had reached and even exceeded those of white women in the U.S. Since that time, African American women’s earning declined dramatically relative to those of white women, resulting in a 17 percent black-white wage gap by 2002. This study examines why this gap has grown during a time of apparent decreasing discrimination and increasing occupational opportunity for African Americans.