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.