Associate Professor of Psychology, Women's Studies and AfroAmerican and African Studies
Ph.D. University of Michigan
Area: Personality & Social Contexts, Social

Contact Information

Email: ecole@umich.edu
Psychology Office: 3266 East Hall
Psychology Phone: 734-647-3954

Alternate Office: 2136 Lane Hall
Alternate Phone: 734-615-6606

Research and Teaching Interests

Feminist theorists have long argued that categories such as gender, race and social class categories are not natural or essential, but instead derive meaning from specific social and cultural practices and beliefs that vary in different times and places. My research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore how these categories are socially constructed, investigating questions such as: How do the categories mutually construct each other and work together to shape outcomes such as well being or political attitudes? How do people experience these social categories as parts of their identities? How do members of different groups perceive these categories of difference, and how are these perceptions related to prejudice?

 

Representative Publications

• Cole, E. R. & Zucker, A.N. (in press) Black and white women’s perspectives on femininity. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.
• Stewart, A. J. & Cole, E. R. (in press) Narratives and numbers: Feminist multiple methods research. The Handbook of Feminist Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Cole, E. R. & Omari, S. R. (2003). Race, class and the dilemmas of upward mobility for African Americans, Journal of Social Issues, 59, 785-802.
• Cole, E. R. & Stewart, A. J. (2001). Invidious comparisons: Imagining a psychology of race and gender beyond differences. Political Psychology, 22, 293-308.
• Press, A. L. & Cole, E. R. (1999) Speaking of abortion: Television and authority in the lives of women. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

 

 

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