My research focuses on race, ethnic, and immigrant differences in educational outcomes among youth.  Earlier work focused on adolescents, and my collaborators included Marta Tienda [Maurice P. During '22 Professor in Demographic Studies, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy], Princeton University], Barbara Schneider [John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Educational Administration], William Kandel [Research Scientist, Economics Research Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture], and Jennifer Thompson.  More recently, (along with collaborator Kara Joyner [Associate Professor of Sociology, Bowling Green State University] and former students Elizabeth Vaquera [Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of South Florida], Jamie Doyle [Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania], and Hongyu Wang [Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Macau]) I have examined interracial romance and friendship among youth using a large nationally-representative sample of youth.  I have also worked with students Rachelle Brunn and Lindsay Rutherford.  Currently (along with Ph.D. students Kristin Turney, Elizabeth Raleigh, and Elizabeth Lee), I am examining how obstacles facing immigrant parents and the parenting decisions they make affect their very young children.  I have also begun to work on educational achievement of rural children in China with my colleague, Emily Hannum and former students Yuping Zhang [Assistant Professor of Sociology, Lehigh University] and Shengchao Yu.  I have also begun working with Ph.D. students Ruth Burke and Jessica McCrory. 

My research has been supported by NICHD, The Spencer Foundation, and Russell Sage Foundation.  I currently serve on the Boards of Social Science Quarterly, Social Science Research, and Social Psychology Quarterly.  

CV (February 2008) 

Research papers:

Turney, Kristin and Grace Kao.  Forthcoming 2008 or 2009.  “Barriers to School Involvement: Are Immigrant Parents Disadvantaged?” Journal of Educational Research. 

Kao, Grace.  Forthcoming 2008.  “Impact of Temporary Labor Migration on Schooling among Mexican Children.”  Child Labor World Atlas: A Reference Encyclopedia (Edited by Hugh D. Hindman).  Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

Vaquera, Elizabeth and Grace Kao. 2008. “Do You Like Me as Much as I Like You? Friendship Reciprocity and Its Effects on School Outcomes among Adolescents.” Social Science Research.  37:55-72

Doyle, Jamie M. and Grace Kao. 2007. “Are Racial Identities of Multiracials Stable? Changing Self-Identification among Single and Multiple Race Individuals.” Social Psychology Quarterly. 70: 405-423.

Zhang, Yuping, Grace Kao, and Emily Hannum. 2007. “Mother’s Educational Expectations for Sons and Daughters in Rural China.” Comparative Education Review. 51:131-157.

Doyle, Jamie M. and Grace Kao. 2007. “Friendship Choices of Multiracial Adolescents: Homophily, Blending, or Amalgamation?” Social Science Research. 36:633-653.

Kao, Grace and Lindsay Taggart Rutherford. 2007. “Does Social Capital Still Matter? Immigrant Minority Disadvantage in Social Capital and Its Effects on Academic Achievement.” Sociological Perspectives. 50:27-52.

Wang, Hongyu and Grace Kao. 2007. “Does Higher Socioeconomic Status Increase Contact Between Minorities and Whites? An Examination of Interracial Romantic Relationships among Adolescents.” Social Science Quarterly. 88: 146-164.

Kao, Grace and Kara Joyner. 2006. “Do Asian and Hispanic Adolescents Practice Panethnicity in Friendship Choices?” Social Science Quarterly. 87:48-68.  

Kao, Grace. 2006. “Where are the Asian and Hispanic Victims of Katrina? A Metaphor for Invisible Minorities in Contemporary Racial Discourse.” Du Bois Review. 3:223-231. 

Vaquera, Elizabeth and Grace Kao. 2006. “The Implications of Choosing No-Race on the Salience of Hispanic Identity: How Racial and Ethnic Background Intersect among Hispanic Adolescents.” The Sociological Quarterly. 47:375-396. 

Wang, Hongyu, Grace Kao and Kara Joyner. 2006. “Stability of Interracial and Intraracial Romantic Relationships among Adolescents.” Social Science Research. 35: 435-456.  

Vaquera, Elizabeth and Grace Kao. 2006. “The Implications of Choosing No-Race on the Salience of Hispanic Identity: How Racial and Ethnic Background Intersect among Hispanic Adolescents.” The Sociological Quarterly. 47:375-396.

Joyner, Kara and Grace Kao. 2005. “Interracial Relationships and the Transition to Adulthood.” American Sociological Review. 70: 563-581. 

Vaquera, Elizabeth and Grace Kao. 2005. “Private and Public Displays of Affection Among Interracial and Intraracial Adolescent Couples.” Social Science Quarterly. 86:485-508.

Kao, Grace and Kara Joyner. 2004. “Do Race and Ethnicity Matter among Friends? Activities among Interracial, Interethnic, and Intraethnic Adolescent Friends.” The Sociological Quarterly. 45:557-573. 

Kao, Grace. 2004. “Parental Influences on the Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth.” International Migration Review. 38: 427-449.

Kao, Grace. 2004.“Social Capital and Its Relevance to Minority and Immigrant Populations.” Sociology of Education. 77:172-175. 

Kao, Grace and Jennifer Thompson. 2003. “Race and Ethnic Stratification in Educational Achievement and Attainment.” Annual Review of Sociology. 29: 417-442.  

Kao, Grace. 2002.  “Ethnic Differences in Parental College Aspirations for Youth.” Research in Sociology of Education: Schooling and Social Capital in Diverse Cultures (Edited by Bruce Fuller and Emily Hannum). 13: 85-104.

Kandel, William and Grace Kao. 2001. “The Impact of Temporary Labor Migration on Mexican Students’ Academic Aspirations and Performance.” International Migration Review. 35: 1205-1231.

Kao, Grace. 2001. “Race and Ethnic Differences in Peer Influences on Educational Achievement.” In The Problem of the Century: Racial Stratification in the U.S. at the Millennium. (Edited by Douglas Massey and Elijah Anderson). Pp. 437-460. New York: Russell Sage.

Joyner, Kara and Grace Kao. 2000. “School Racial Composition and Adolescent Racial Homophily.” Social Science Quarterly. 81: 810-825.

Kao, Grace. 2000. “Group Images and Possible Selves Among Adolescents: Linking Stereotypes to Expectations by Race and Ethnicity.” Sociological Forum. 15:407-430.  

Kandel, William and Grace Kao. 2000. “Shifting Orientations: How U.S. Labor Migration Affects Children’s Aspirations in Mexican Migrant Communities.” Social Science Quarterly. 81:16-32.

Kao, Grace. 1999. “Racial Identity and Academic Performance: An Examination of Biracial Asian and African American Youth.” Journal of Asian American Studies. 2:223-249.

Kao, Grace. 1999.   “Psychological Well-Being and Educational Achievement Among Immigrant Youth.” Pp. 410-477 in Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance. Edited by Donald J. Hernandez. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press. Results also summarized in Trends in the Well-Being of America’s Children & Youth 1998, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Kao, Grace and Marta Tienda. 1998.  “Educational Aspirations among Minority Youth.”  American Journal of Education.  106: 349-384. 

Kao, Grace, Marta Tienda, and Barbara Schneider.  1996. “Racial and Ethnic Variation in Educational Achievement.”  Research in Sociology of Education and Socialization.  11:263-297.

Kao, Grace and Marta Tienda. 1995. “Optimism and Achievement: The Educational Performance of Immigrant Youth.” Social Science Quarterly. 76: 1-19.  (Reprinted in The New Immigration: An Interdisciplinary Reader. (Edited by Marcelo Suarez-Orozco).  2005.  New York: Routledge).

 Book Reviews (2006 to present):

Kao, Grace.  Forthcoming 2008.  Book Review of Das Gupta, Monisha.  Unruly Immigrants: Rights, Activism, and Transnational South Asian Politics in the United States.  American Journal of Sociology.

Kao, Grace.  Forthcoming 2008.   Book Review of Maria W.L. Chee, Taiwanese American Transnational Families: Women and Kin Work.  Ethnic and Racial Studies. 30:

Kao, Grace. 2007. Book Review of Cynthia Feliciano, Immigrant Selection and the Education of the Second Generation. Contemporary Sociology. 35:471-472. 

Kao, Grace. 2006. Book Review of Vivian S. Louie, Compelled to Excel: Immigration, Education, and Opportunity among Chinese Americans. American Journal of Education. 113:158-160. 

Kao, Grace. 2006. Book Review of Lisa Sun-Hee Park, Consuming Citizenship: Children of Asian Immigrant Entrepreneurs. Social Forces. 85:1040-1041. 

Kao, Grace. 2000. Book Review of Mia Tuan, Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites? The Asian Ethnic Experience Today. American Journal of Sociology. 105:1219-1220.  

Kao, Grace. 1998. Book Review of William Petersen, Ethnicity Counts. International Migration Review. 32: 495-96. 

Kao, Grace. 1996. Book Review of Margaret A. Gibson and John U. Ogbu, Minority Status and Schooling: A Comparative Study of Immigrant and Involuntary Minorities. Comparative Education Review. 40:84-86.