Education

Ph.D., Stanford University
M.S., Carnegie Mellon University
B.A. University of Illinois, Chicago

Jacqueline Olvera
Assistant Professor of Sociology
On leave of absence - Academic Year 2007-2008

• Organizations
• Poverty
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Policy,
• Social Stratification
• Urban Sociology

Jacqueline Olvera states: "My primary research interests are in the areas of race and ethnicity, poverty, urban inequality, and organizations. My research agenda focuses on understanding urban change by exploring the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and community organizations. My goal is to challenge the view that neighborhood deterioration is an inevitable downward spiraling process and illustrate that ethnic organizations are important social actors within neighborhoods, even during periods of radical social and economic transformation."

To illustrate that organizations are capable of affecting the life cycle of neighborhoods, Jacqueline Olvera examines neighborhoods during the postwar period. Her work integrates urban sociological perspective on community structures, research in the sociology of labor markets, and organizational theories to argue that the way in which residents organize has implications for how they find jobs. Unlike work that examines informal networks to gain employment, she frames the question of employment by considering how organizations mediate the maintenance of employed communities. She also uses her understanding of organizations and neighborhoods to explore how neighborhoods contextualize organizational presence and growth.

Jacqueline Olvera teaches courses in Immigration in an Urban Context, Urban Sociology, and Introduction to Sociology.

View the Department of Sociology website.