Below are my published and forthcoming articles and books. Click on the title to read the abstract and access the article.
Books
Cech, Erin A. (2021) The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality. University of California Press.
* Available for purchase at online retailers listed here* Reviewed in Financial Times, Forbes, Administrative Science Quarterly, Teaching Sociology, and College & Research Libraries
Blair-Loy, Mary and Erin A. Cech. (2022). Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering Chicago, IL. University of Chicago Press.
Available for purchase at UChicago press, Bookshop, and Amazon
Reviewed in Science, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, and The Review of Higher Education
ARTICLES
Forthcoming
Cech, Erin A. “When the Watchdogs Look Away: The Role of Engineers’ Ideological Commitments in their Grappling with Tech Bias.” Social Forces.
2025
Ma, Guizhen, Kendra Spence Cheruvelil, Georgina M. Montgomery, Erin A. Cech, Isis Settles, Hannah M. Douglas. “Racial Differences in Job Attitudes of Early-Career Academics: The Experiences of Asian Americans in Higher Education.” Higher Education. 10.1007/s10734-025-01412-4
2024
Cech, Erin A. “Lowering their Meritocratic Blinders: White Men’s Harassment Experiences and their Recognition and Reporting of Workplace Race and Gender Bias.” American Journal of Sociology. Vol 129(4): 1033-1083. [Lead Article]
Hiltner, Sofia and Erin A. Cech. “The View from Above and Below: How Subjective Downward and Upward Mobility Shape Explanations of Class, Race, and Gender Inequality.” Social Forces. Vol. 103(2):449-474.
Cech, Erin A. and Cynthia Finelli. “Learning to Prioritize the Public Good: Does training in classes, workplaces, and professional societies shape engineers' understanding of their public welfare responsibilities?” Journal of Engineering Education. Vol. 113(2), 407–438.
Douglas, Hannah M, Isis H Settles, Kendra Spence Cheruvelil, Georgina M Montgomery, Kevin C Elliott, Erin A. Cech, Tangier M Davis, Guizhen Ma, Arika K Hawkins, Lexi R Nadolsky. “The importance of inclusive climate within the research group, department, and profession for marginalized science scholars’ career outcomes.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Vol. 18(1):559–572.
2023
Cech, Erin A. “Engineering Ableism: The Exclusion and Devaluation of Engineering Students and Professionals with Physical Disabilities and Chronic and Mental Illness.” Journal of Engineering Education. Vol. 112(2):462-487.
Blair-Loy, Mary, Stephen Reynders and Erin A. Cech. “Productivity metrics and hiring rubrics are warped by cultural schemas of merit” Trends in Microbiology. Vol. 36(1):556-558
2022
Cech, Erin A. (2022). “The Intersectional Privilege of White Able-Bodied Heterosexual Men in STEM.” Science Advances. Vol. 8(24): abo1558.
Cech, Erin A. and Tom J. Waidzunas. (2022). “LGBTQ@NASA and Beyond: Workplace Structure and Workplace Inequality for LGBTQ STEM Professionals.” Work and Occupations. Vol. 40(7): 187–228
Cech, Erin A. and Sofia Hiltner. (2022). "Unsettled Employment, Reshuffled Priorities? Career Prioritization among College-Educated Workers Facing Employment Instability during COVID-19." Socius. January 2022
2021
Cech, Erin A. and Tom J. Waidzunas. (2021). “Systemic Inequalities for LGBTQ Professionals in STEM.” Science Advances. Vol. 7(3):eabe0933.
Cech, Erin A., Georgina Montgomery, Isis Settles, Kevin Elliott, Kendra Cheruvelil, and Sheila Brassel. “The Social is Professional: The effects of Team Climate on Professional Outcomes for LGBTQ Persons in Environmental Science” Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. Vol. 27(5):25-60.
2020
Cech, Erin A. and William R. Rothwell.(2020). “LGBT Workplace Inequality in the Federal Workforce: Intersectional Processes, Organizational Contexts, and Turnover Considerations.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review. Vol. 73(1):25-60.
2019
Cech, Erin A. and Mary Blair-Loy. (2019). "The changing career trajectories of new parents in STEM" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (10) 4182-4187.
Cech, Erin A., Jessi L. Smith and Anneke Metz. (2019). “Cultural Processes of Ethnoracial Disadvantage for Native American College Students.” Social Forces. Vol.91(1): 355-380.
2018
Cech, Erin A. and William R. Rothwell. (2018). “LGBTQ Inequality in Engineering Education.” Journal of Engineering Education. 107(4): 583-610.
Cech, Erin A., Mary Blair-Loy, and Laura E. Rogers. (2018). “Recognizing Chilliness: How Schemas of Inequality Shape Views of Culture and Climate in Work Environments.” American Journal of Cultural Sociology. Vol. 6(1): 125-160.
Cech, Erin A. and Lindsey Trimble O'Connor. (2018). " 'Like Second-Hand Smoke: The Toxic Effect of Workplace Flexibility Bias for Workers' Health." Community, Work & Family. Vol. 20(5): 543-572.
O’Connor, Lindsey Trimble and Erin A. Cech. (2018) “Not Just a Mother’s Problem: The Consequences of Perceived Workplace Flexibility Bias for All Workers.” Sociological Perspectives. 61(5):808-829.
Seron, Carroll, Susan Silbey, Erin Cech and Brian Rubineau. (2018) “ ‘I’m not a Feminist, but...:’ Hegemony of a Meritocratic Ideology and the Limits of Critique Among Women in Engineering. Work and Occupations. Vol. 45(2):131-167.
2017
Cech, Erin A. (2017). “Rugged Meritocratists: The Role of Overt Bias and the Meritocratic Ideology in Trump Supporters’ Opposition to Social Justice Efforts.” Socius. Vol. 3:1-20.
Cech, Erin A., Anneke Metz, Jessi L. Smith, and Karen deVries. (2017). “Epistemological Dominance and Social Inequality: Experiences of Native American Science, Engineering, and Health Students.” Science, Technology & Human Values. Vol. 42(5):743-774.
Cech, Erin A. (2017). “What Fosters Concern for Inequality among American Adolescents?” Social Science Research. Vol. 61(1): 160-180.
Cech, Erin A. and Michelle V. Pham. (2017) “Queer in STEM Organizations: Workplace Disadvantages for LGBT Employees in STEM Related Federal Agencies.” Social Sciences. Vol. 6(3):1-22.
Blair-Loy, Mary and Erin A. Cech. (2017) “Demands & Devotion: Cultural Meanings of Work and Overload among Women Researchers and Professionals in Science and Technology Industries.” Sociological Forum. Vol. 32(1): 5-27.
2016
Cech, Erin A. (2016). “Mechanism or Myth? Family Plans and the Reproduction of Occupational Gender Segregation.” Gender & Society. Vol. 30(2): 265-88.
Seron, Carroll, Susan Silbey, Erin A. Cech, and Brian Rubineau. (2016). “Persistence is Cultural: Professional Socialization and the Reproduction of Sex Segregation.” Work and Occupations. Vol. 23(2): 178-214.
2015
Cech, Erin A. (2015). “Engineers & Engineeresses? Self-Conceptions and the Gendered Development of Professional Identities.” Sociological Perspectives. Vol. 58(1): 56-77.
2014
Cech, Erin A. and Mary Blair-Loy. (2014). “Consequences of Flexibility Stigma among Academic Scientists and Engineers.” Work and Occupations. Vol. 41(1):86-110.
Cech, Erin A. (2014). “Culture of Disengagement in Engineering Education?” Science, Technology & Human Values. Vol. 39 (1): 34-63.
-Invited Nature comment on culture of disengagement research
Charles, Maria, Bridget Harr, Erin Cech & Ali Hendley. (2014). “Who Likes Math Where? Gender Differences in Eighth-Graders’ Attitudes Around the World.” International Studies in Sociology of Education. Vol. 24(1):85-112.
Smith, Jessi L., Erin Cech, Anneke Metz, Meghan Huntoon and Christina Carvalho. (2014). “Giving Back or Giving Up: Native American Student Experiences in STEM.” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Vol. 20(3):413-29.
2013
Cech, Erin A. (2013). “The Self-Expressive Edge of Occupational Sex Segregation.” American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 119(3):747-89
Cech, Erin A. (2013). “Ideological Wage Gaps? The Technical/Social Dualism and the Gender Wage Gap in Engineering.” Social Forces. Vol. 91(4): 1147-1182.
2011
Cech, Erin, Brian Rubineau, Susan Silbey, and Carroll Seron. (2011). “Professional Role Confidence and Gendered Persistence in Engineering.” American Sociological Review, Vol.76(5): 641-66.
Cech, Erin A. and Tom J. Waidzunas. (2011). “Navigating the Heteronormativity of Engineering: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students.” Engineering Studies, Vol. 3(1): 1-24.
Cech, Erin A., Anneke Metz, Tracy Babcock, and Jessi Smith. (2011). “‘Caring for Our Own:’ The Role of Institutionalized Support Structures in Native American Nursing Student Success.” Journal of Nursing Education, Vol. 50(9): 524-531.
Metz, Anneke, Erin Cech, Tracy Babcock, and Jessi Smith. “The Effect of Formal and Informal Support Structures on the Motivation of Native American Students in Nursing.” Journal of Nursing Education, Vol. 50(7): 388-94.
2010
Cech, Erin A. and Mary Blair-Loy. (2010). “Perceiving Glass Ceilings? Meritocratic versus Structural Explanations of Gender Inequality among Women in Science and Technology.” Social Problems, Vol. 57(3): 371-397.