Kevin McElrath

My research investigates educational inequality and the processes of social stratification within educational systems and institutions. Much of my work focuses on key transition periods, such as the move from high school to college and entry into the labor market. I use quantitative methods and survey data to examine socioeconomic differences in college preparation and their implications for college access. In other work, I analyze how earnings vary by gender, race, and Hispanic origin among individuals with the same field of degree. 

Before joining Davidson College, I worked for five years at the U.S. Census Bureau as a statistician and subject matter expert on education. There, I contributed to the production of several national surveys that are key to the infrastructure of educational data in the United States. In my courses, I guide students to critically evaluate the data they use, emphasizing the strengths, limitations, and biases embedded in data sources. Substantively, my teaching explores how education can serve as both as mechanism of social mobility and a source of social stratification that maintains existing hierarchies.