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Postdoctoral Scholar at University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Affiliation(s)

  • Joint Program in Social Work and Sociology

• Fields of Study

  • Health and Healthcare
  • Social Demography
  • Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration

• About

  Megan E. Gilster’s interests include urban sociology, demography of inequality, health and mental health disparities, community practice, and program evaluation. Her work examines the role of neighborhood context in health and mental health disparities. She is particularly interested in the role formal neighborhood organization plays in ameliorating inequalities. Her dissertation examined the mental health consequences and antecedents of neighborhood activism in Chicago. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in December, 2010 in Social Work and Sociology.
  She is continuing her training as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health in the Health Disparities Scholars Program, sponsored by NICHD. Her current projects include continued research on the effects of Chicago neighborhoods on resident health and mental health and an investigation of neighborhood correlates of health and mental health disparities among recent mothers in two Wisconsin counties.  

• Education

  • Ph.D, Sociology & Social Work, 2010
  • MSW, University of Michigan, 2003
  • B.A., Lawrence University, 1999

• Research Areas of Interest

  • Health and Mental Health Disparities, Neighborhoods, Urban Sociology, Demography of Inequality, Quantitative Methods

• Dissertation Title

  • Neighborhood Activism in Context: Three Studies of the Neighborhood Antecedents and Individual Effects of Participation in Neighborhood Activism.

• Dissertation Chairs

  • Jeffery Morenoff (Co-Chair) Michael Spencer (Co-Chair)