Dr. Ryan Parsons

My research, broadly, is focused on stratification processes that operate across the rural-urban continuum, with a special focus on communities experiencing persistent depopulation. I have an interdisciplinary background in the social sciences, culminating in a joint PhD in sociology and social policy. While my major projects are structured around ethnographic and interview research, I have a diverse training in methods and have published using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. As an early career researcher, I have actively sought further training and professional development opportunities, such as a recent Early Career Mentoring Institute for scholars of poverty funded by the Institute for Research on Poverty and the National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility. I am currently the PI on a Presidential Grant from the Russell Sage Foundation to study the impacts of Social Security disability programs on high poverty rural communities. Data from this ongoing project and a pilot study motivated the research questions in this proposed research project. In my time at the University of Mississippi I have gained valuable experience in managing research teams, supervising graduate students, budgeting, community engagement, and other skills necessary to administer externally funded research projects. I also have a background working internationally, with a focus on rural China in earlier research.

Research areas: stratification, race and ethnicity, mobility, poverty, education, the welfare state