Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
Associate Professor @YaleSoc @ysphbiostat @JacksonYale | Advocate for evidence-based family and health policies | Data science enthusiast
Sociology
19%
Political science
19%
Jan 21-24 (tentative): The Inaugural Global Fertility Crisis Forum (Hong Kong)
Jan 29-30: The Jimmy Carter Forum on U.S.-China Relations (Atlanta, Georgia)
Hope to catch up with some old friends and meet new ones!
Jan 29-30: The Jimmy Carter Forum on U.S.-China Relations (Atlanta, Georgia)
Hope to catch up with some old friends and meet new ones!
Travel Plans in Dec and Jan:
Dec 9: NYC Reducing Inequality Network (NYU)
Dec 10-11: Asia Society annual meeting (NYC)
Dec 9: NYC Reducing Inequality Network (NYU)
Dec 10-11: Asia Society annual meeting (NYC)
Organizing Committee
Emma Zang, Yale University
Becca Levy, Yale University
Xi Chen, Yale University
Deborah Carr, Boston University
Hui Zheng, University of Toronto
Emma Zang, Yale University
Becca Levy, Yale University
Xi Chen, Yale University
Deborah Carr, Boston University
Hui Zheng, University of Toronto
Call for Extended Abstracts.pdf
drive.google.com
Submission Guidelines here: drive.google.com/file/d/1S8F0...
Call for Extended Abstracts.pdf
drive.google.com
[Call for Extended Abstracts/Papers] New Data, Methods, and Theory: Life-Course Cognitive Inequality
We are inviting submissions for the interdisciplinary conference New Data, Methods, and Theory: Life-Course Cognitive Inequality, to be held at Yale University on May 11-12, 2026.
We are inviting submissions for the interdisciplinary conference New Data, Methods, and Theory: Life-Course Cognitive Inequality, to be held at Yale University on May 11-12, 2026.
If I ever teach PhD formal demography, I’m definitely putting this in the problem set. It’s too good not to. 😄
And if you try to “just simulate it,” the result depends on how many families you draw. With a finite N you might get something that looks close to 0.5, but it’s always a bit above 0.5. Simulation will happily mislead you if you let it.
Many people gave the wrong answers because they assumed: E[G/(G+B)] = E[G] / (E[G] + E[B]), which is not true. The quick intuition: once family sizes vary, each family contributes differently to the population ratio, so you can’t just take expectations on the top and bottom and call it a day.
[Due to huge interests in this, I post it here as well] I came across this interesting demography problem on X. It looks obvious until you actually think about it. And if you ask GPT, it will not give you the correct answer!
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Nov 17
Yale’s Institute for Foundations of Data Science (FDS) @yaledatascience.bsky.social is seeking applications for postdoctoral positions. These are cool, generously supported, competitive positions, expected to last 2-3 years, for independent scholars working on the foundations of data science.
Yale University, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science
Job #AJO31114, Postdoc in Foundations of Data Science, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, US
academicjobsonline.org
Thrilled to be serving on the postdoc selection committee this year! If you’re working on social applications of LLMs or causal inference using observational data, I’d love to see your application!
Reposted by Neil Shephard, Emma Zang
Yale University, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science
Job #AJO31114, Postdoc in Foundations of Data Science, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, US
academicjobsonline.org
Yale’s Institute for Foundations of Data Science (FDS) @yaledatascience.bsky.social is seeking applications for postdoctoral positions. These are cool, generously supported, competitive positions, expected to last 2-3 years, for independent scholars working on the foundations of data science.
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 28
The Hoover Institution was a beautiful setting, and the organizing team was fantastic. I’m already planning to join again next year. Hope to see more demographers and sociologists there!
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 28
Had a great time at the Remote Work Conference last week! It’s been a while since I’ve attended such an intellectually stimulating and welcoming event.
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 17
<p><b><span>From Extraction to Inference: Comparing Rule-Based, Machine Learning, and LLM Approaches for Classifying Social Outcomes in Legal Text</span></b></p>
<p><span>Legal texts encode key social outcomes, but their unstructured format, domain-specific language, and culturally embedded cues make them difficult to an
papers.ssrn.com
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Feedback very welcome!
Feedback very welcome!
Reposted by Cameron Campbell
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 17
<p><b><span>From Extraction to Inference: Comparing Rule-Based, Machine Learning, and LLM Approaches for Classifying Social Outcomes in Legal Text</span></b></p>
<p><span>Legal texts encode key social outcomes, but their unstructured format, domain-specific language, and culturally embedded cues make them difficult to an
papers.ssrn.com
Just posted a new working paper on SSRN! We pit rule-based, machine learning, and various LLM methods against each other to classify social outcomes (like gender, custody, and housing) from Chinese divorce judgments. What can human–machine disagreement teach us about validity and inference?
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 14
Join us in advancing cutting-edge, data-driven research on inequality and population health! Please spread the word!
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 14
The official posting will appear soon on our lab website, but interested candidates are encouraged to reach out now with a CV and a writing sample (with an associated sample code). You can reach me at emma.zang@yale.edu. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until we find the right fit.
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 14
Z-CAFÉ will soon open a new postdoctoral position. We’re looking for scholars passionate about family, health, demography, policy, and aging, broadly defined, who also bring strong statistical and computational skills.
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 13
Looking forward to the amazing Deborah Carr visiting us next Monday!
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 6
2025 Conference Schedule
The Schedule
www.remoteworkconference.org
Excited to attend this year's Remote Work Conference at Stanford (www.remoteworkconference.org)! Look forward to connecting with scholars who are interested in flexible work and those in the Stanford area!
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 5
This would likely be a side project, but I think it could be extremely interesting (and important). If this sparks your curiosity too, please reach out or drop me a message—I’d love to chat!
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 5
I’d love to start talking with families whose children or parents have been in facilities recently acquired by private equity companies. I’m also looking to connect with researchers—especially those with qualitative expertise—who might be interested in exploring this with me.
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 5
As both a scholar who studies caregiving and a parent, I find this trend fascinating—and a bit concerning. There’s already a growing body of research on private equity in healthcare, but much less on its impact on the everyday experiences of families.
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 5
Lately I’ve been hearing parents talk about how private equity firms are increasingly buying up daycares and nursing homes in Connecticut.
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 4
Disrupted Customs | The New Journal
Chinese international students are the foremost targets of Trump’s student visa restrictions. Now, their place at Yale and their ability to speak freely seem more precarious.
thenewjournalatyale.com
As someone who studies family, law, and inequality, I found these stories both personal and urgent—they remind us how policies ripple through everyday lives and futures.
I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and support student journalism: thenewjournalatyale.com/2025/09/disr...
I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and support student journalism: thenewjournalatyale.com/2025/09/disr...
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 4
Disrupted Customs | The New Journal
Chinese international students are the foremost targets of Trump’s student visa restrictions. Now, their place at Yale and their ability to speak freely seem more precarious.
thenewjournalatyale.com
I was recently interviewed for this thoughtful piece in The New Journal about Chinese international students navigating today’s political climate. The article captures both the courage and vulnerability of students whose education and voices are shaped by forces far beyond the classroom.
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 1
Yes I realized!
Emma Zang
@dremmazang.bsky.social
· Oct 1
Yes trying to be more active here haha