DAWN MARIE DOW 

Dr. Dawn M. Dow is a Principal Research Associate and  Equity Scholar at the Urban Institute in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population. She is also an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Faculty Associate in the Maryland Population Research Center. Dr. Dow also served as the faculty director for the Critical Race Initiative from 2019 to 2021, which annually holds the Parren J. Mitchell Conference, which focuses on examining systemic racism and inequality in contemporary society. She continues to be a faculty affiliate.

​

Using primarily qualitative methods, Dow's research and writing examine intersections of race, class, and gender within the context of the family, educational settings, the workplace, the law, political mobilization, and popular culture. 

Dr. Dow's award-winning book, Mothering While Black: The Boundaries and Burdens of Middle-Class Parenthood, was published in March 2019 with the University of California Press. It examines African American middle and upper-middle-class mothers’ approaches to parenting their children and their views and decision-making about work, family, and childcare. Dr. Dow’s work has also appeared in journals including Gender & Society, Journal of Marriage and Family, Sociology of Race & Ethnicity, Science Advances, and Mobilization.

​

Dr. Dow is currently a deputy editor for the Journal of Marriage and Family and is on the editorial board of Contexts. 

​

Dr. Dow received a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a JD from Columbia University, School of Law.