Are minority women sociologists in double jeopardy?

We examine whether minority women in academic sociology face disadvantages that exceed those that would be expected by simply compounding the disadvantage of being a woman with that of being nonwhite or Hispanic. In a national survey of sociology departments, evidence of such “double jeopardy” appears in minority women’s severe underrepresentation among full professors, in both very small and very large departments, in undergraduate programs, in the Northeast, and in public institutions. Minority women are somewhat better represented among graduate students, but disadvantaged relative to minority men in their share of financial support. A pool of doctoral students now exists from which minority women faculty may be recruited, but these women appear to be leaving faculties faster than they are being replaced. His research interests include intergenerational family structure, social support across the life course, and U.S. antipoverty policy. He is currently collaborating on a longitudinal study of institutional predictors of the pace of affirmative action for women faculty in sociology. Her major research interest is in the area of work and personality. She is collaborating on a longitudinal study of women and minorities in U.S. sociology departments.