Andrew Penner
@andrewpenner.bsky.social
Professor of Sociology and administrative data infrastructure enthusiast at UC Irvine. My book (Schooled & Sorted) examines the role of categorization in education and how we can create more egalitarian categories.
Yet one more way that we are failing children.
The accompanying editorial tells the sad truth that is largely being ignored
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
October 1, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Yet one more way that we are failing children.
Reposted by Andrew Penner
New episode of @haveyouheard.bsky.social, featuring research by @t-h-a-d.bsky.social, @emilykpenner.bsky.social, and Andrew Penner.
#205 Schools as Sorting Machines
Play #205 Schools as Sorting Machines by Have You Heard on desktop and mobile. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud.
m.soundcloud.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
New episode of @haveyouheard.bsky.social, featuring research by @t-h-a-d.bsky.social, @emilykpenner.bsky.social, and Andrew Penner.
Baby’s first data visualization—was reading a book about the Banff wildlife crossings and wanted to understand the preferences of different animals.
August 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Baby’s first data visualization—was reading a book about the Banff wildlife crossings and wanted to understand the preferences of different animals.
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Fascinating work by Deven Carlson, @t-h-a-d.bsky.social, James Carter, @rachelmarisa.bsky.social, Vitali Radsky, and Andrew McEachin on both the potential of school choice for the purpose of desegregation and the disappointing reality that most school choice systems tend to exacerbate segregation
A new article in AERJ observed the relationship between school choice policy and school segregation, finding that White and Asian families disproportionately used the choice system to avoid schools with large concentrations of Black students. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...
Structuring Choice Policy, School Segregation and the Two-Staged School Choice Process - Deven Carlson, Thurston Domina, James Carter, Rachel M. Perera, Vitaly Radsky, Andrew McEachin, 2025
School choice is both an important tool for school desegregation policy and an enabler of racial segregation. In this paper, we used a two-stage model of comple...
journals.sagepub.com
August 21, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Fascinating work by Deven Carlson, @t-h-a-d.bsky.social, James Carter, @rachelmarisa.bsky.social, Vitali Radsky, and Andrew McEachin on both the potential of school choice for the purpose of desegregation and the disappointing reality that most school choice systems tend to exacerbate segregation
Reposted by Andrew Penner
The Power of Attorney flourished when more Americans saw incarcerated people as more than their crimes.
Their career would be unthinkable today: Leaving prison under armed guards to play hundreds of concerts and record in major studios.
Their career would be unthinkable today: Leaving prison under armed guards to play hundreds of concerts and record in major studios.
The Prison Soul Band That Opened for Stevie Wonder
The band The Power of Attorney flourished when more Americans saw incarcerated people as more than their crimes.
www.themarshallproject.org
August 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The Power of Attorney flourished when more Americans saw incarcerated people as more than their crimes.
Their career would be unthinkable today: Leaving prison under armed guards to play hundreds of concerts and record in major studios.
Their career would be unthinkable today: Leaving prison under armed guards to play hundreds of concerts and record in major studios.
It was such an honor to receive this award from @isa-rc28.bsky.social
on behalf of @oliviergodechot.bsky.social and other coauthors.
on behalf of @oliviergodechot.bsky.social and other coauthors.
The winner of this year’s significant contribution award goes to
The great separation: Top earner segregation at work in advanced capitalist economies
O Godechot, et al
American Journal of Sociology 130 (2), 439-495, 2024
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
The great separation: Top earner segregation at work in advanced capitalist economies
O Godechot, et al
American Journal of Sociology 130 (2), 439-495, 2024
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
August 7, 2025 at 5:21 AM
It was such an honor to receive this award from @isa-rc28.bsky.social
on behalf of @oliviergodechot.bsky.social and other coauthors.
on behalf of @oliviergodechot.bsky.social and other coauthors.
So excited to receive this award on behalf of @oliviergodechot.bsky.social and 27 other coauthors!
Congrats to @andrewpenner.bsky.social and a host of co-authors on winning the award for significant scholarship from @isa-rc28.bsky.social, presented by RC president @jenniebrand.bsky.social.
August 7, 2025 at 5:10 AM
So excited to receive this award on behalf of @oliviergodechot.bsky.social and 27 other coauthors!
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Every jailhouse lawyer knows Dee Farmer’s name, even if they don’t know who she is.
What most of them don’t know is that the person who paved the road for them was a transgender woman who filed her suit from a federal prison cell, in an era when her gender identity was considered a mental illness.
What most of them don’t know is that the person who paved the road for them was a transgender woman who filed her suit from a federal prison cell, in an era when her gender identity was considered a mental illness.
In Prison, She Changed Constitutional Law. Meet the Trans Woman Behind the Case.
Farmer v. Brennan is one of the most cited Supreme Court cases of all time. Few people know just how revolutionary Dee Farmer was.
www.themarshallproject.org
July 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Every jailhouse lawyer knows Dee Farmer’s name, even if they don’t know who she is.
What most of them don’t know is that the person who paved the road for them was a transgender woman who filed her suit from a federal prison cell, in an era when her gender identity was considered a mental illness.
What most of them don’t know is that the person who paved the road for them was a transgender woman who filed her suit from a federal prison cell, in an era when her gender identity was considered a mental illness.
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Short piece about our @nature.com paper on the immigrant-native pay gap in The Conversation! Also broad coverage in (so far) German, Dutch, and Spanish central news outlets today!
Immigrants in Europe and North America earn 18% less than natives – here’s why
Immigrants struggle to access higher-paying jobs, meaning their skills often go to waste.
theconversation.com
July 17, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Short piece about our @nature.com paper on the immigrant-native pay gap in The Conversation! Also broad coverage in (so far) German, Dutch, and Spanish central news outlets today!
Reposted by Andrew Penner
IN OTHER NEWS: check out our new COIN paper on immigrant--native pay gaps in advanced economies published in @nature.com this afternoon! Specifically, we study the relative contribution of within-job unequal pay vs between-job segregation to earnings disparities across immigrant generations. 1/9
Immigrant–native pay gap driven by lack of access to high-paying jobs - Nature
Data from nine European and North American countries reveal that the disparity in earnings between immigrants and natives is largely a result of segregation of immigrant workers into lower-paying jobs...
www.nature.com
July 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
IN OTHER NEWS: check out our new COIN paper on immigrant--native pay gaps in advanced economies published in @nature.com this afternoon! Specifically, we study the relative contribution of within-job unequal pay vs between-job segregation to earnings disparities across immigrant generations. 1/9
Very excited for the latest paper from the international administrative data network I am a part of!
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
July 16, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Very excited for the latest paper from the international administrative data network I am a part of!
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Universal school masking reduced weekly COVID-19 deaths by 0.57 per 100k people. 50 percent of districts removed mask requirements by spring 2022 contributing to 9 percent of COVID deaths that year, from Guzman, Imberman, Filosa, Kilbride, and Malkus https://www.nber.org/papers/w33849
May 31, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Universal school masking reduced weekly COVID-19 deaths by 0.57 per 100k people. 50 percent of districts removed mask requirements by spring 2022 contributing to 9 percent of COVID deaths that year, from Guzman, Imberman, Filosa, Kilbride, and Malkus https://www.nber.org/papers/w33849
Reposted by Andrew Penner
AERA: I'm looking forward to sharing a paper co-authored with @alexfreidus.bsky.social and @ericaoturner.bsky.social on how families of disabled children made school choices during the pandemic. Should be a stellar symposium on school choice for marginalized families! 8am Sunday in Meeting Room 712.
April 26, 2025 at 9:51 PM
AERA: I'm looking forward to sharing a paper co-authored with @alexfreidus.bsky.social and @ericaoturner.bsky.social on how families of disabled children made school choices during the pandemic. Should be a stellar symposium on school choice for marginalized families! 8am Sunday in Meeting Room 712.
I love this assignment so much and can’t wait to use it (with attribution) the next time I teach Sociology of Education!
.@t-h-a-d.bsky.social @andrewpenner.bsky.social @emilykpenner.bsky.social's book argues for reclaiming absolute goods (vs positional goods) as the desired outcomes of public ed.
I've asked students to pick 2 domains to focus on & explain why. Truly moving responses. Will share when compiled.
I've asked students to pick 2 domains to focus on & explain why. Truly moving responses. Will share when compiled.
April 17, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I love this assignment so much and can’t wait to use it (with attribution) the next time I teach Sociology of Education!
So excited to present some great undergrad honors theses from UCI LIFTED students at #psa2025
Thanks to everyone who came for the great questions, and to the session organizers who helped make this happen!
Thanks to everyone who came for the great questions, and to the session organizers who helped make this happen!
March 31, 2025 at 3:15 AM
So excited to present some great undergrad honors theses from UCI LIFTED students at #psa2025
Thanks to everyone who came for the great questions, and to the session organizers who helped make this happen!
Thanks to everyone who came for the great questions, and to the session organizers who helped make this happen!
Reposted by Andrew Penner
A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.
March 27, 2025 at 10:21 PM
A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Allow me to nerd out a bit about the stats in our recent PNAS paper...
To make this graph, we calculated a 100-by-100 grid of the average proportion of peers in each income percentile for students in each percentile (i.e., average peer income distributions for each student percentile). [1/n]
To make this graph, we calculated a 100-by-100 grid of the average proportion of peers in each income percentile for students in each percentile (i.e., average peer income distributions for each student percentile). [1/n]
Students in the top 1% of the income distribution are highly isolated in affluent school enclaves.
💥6%💥 of these top 1% percentile kids’ peers are ALSO in the top income percentile.
💥20%💥 are in the top 5 income percentiles.
💥Nearly 50%💥come from the top 20 income percentiles.
💥6%💥 of these top 1% percentile kids’ peers are ALSO in the top income percentile.
💥20%💥 are in the top 5 income percentiles.
💥Nearly 50%💥come from the top 20 income percentiles.
March 23, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Allow me to nerd out a bit about the stats in our recent PNAS paper...
To make this graph, we calculated a 100-by-100 grid of the average proportion of peers in each income percentile for students in each percentile (i.e., average peer income distributions for each student percentile). [1/n]
To make this graph, we calculated a 100-by-100 grid of the average proportion of peers in each income percentile for students in each percentile (i.e., average peer income distributions for each student percentile). [1/n]
Reposted by Andrew Penner
What I keep turning over at 3am: How do we design an education system that cultivates people to have the courage to stand up, and stand together, for something greater than themselves?
American civil society is full of abject cowards, that is the issue. The government is a mafia state but it is winning because most American elite institutions are devoid of anything resembling integrity and are folding rather than stand on principles that were little more than marketing.
March 21, 2025 at 12:50 PM
What I keep turning over at 3am: How do we design an education system that cultivates people to have the courage to stand up, and stand together, for something greater than themselves?
Reposted by Andrew Penner
What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit. That's why I'm running for Governor.
katieporter.com
katieporter.com
Katie Porter for Governor | Official Campaign Website
What California needs is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit. Join our team today to help Katie Porter stand up to Donald Trump and lower costs for Californians.
katieporter.com
March 11, 2025 at 1:26 PM
What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit. That's why I'm running for Governor.
katieporter.com
katieporter.com
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Great job alert: ProPublica is hiring a computational journalist, "someone who will use technology and data to identify and unlock stories that would otherwise be out of reach."
Salary: $120K-$140K
Remote: ✅
Come join us!
Salary: $120K-$140K
Remote: ✅
Come join us!
Computational Journalist
New York, New York, United States
boards.greenhouse.io
March 6, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Great job alert: ProPublica is hiring a computational journalist, "someone who will use technology and data to identify and unlock stories that would otherwise be out of reach."
Salary: $120K-$140K
Remote: ✅
Come join us!
Salary: $120K-$140K
Remote: ✅
Come join us!
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Hey! What are you doing Friday morning?
Attending the Schooled and Sorted "Author Meets Critics "session, obviously.
8AM, Boston Park Plaza, Brookline conference room.
#ESS2025
www.russellsage.org/publications...
Attending the Schooled and Sorted "Author Meets Critics "session, obviously.
8AM, Boston Park Plaza, Brookline conference room.
#ESS2025
www.russellsage.org/publications...
Schooled and Sorted
In Schooled & Sorted, Thurston Domina, Andrew M. Penner, and Emily K. Penner, explore processes of educational categorization in order to explain the complex relationship between education and social
www.russellsage.org
March 4, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Hey! What are you doing Friday morning?
Attending the Schooled and Sorted "Author Meets Critics "session, obviously.
8AM, Boston Park Plaza, Brookline conference room.
#ESS2025
www.russellsage.org/publications...
Attending the Schooled and Sorted "Author Meets Critics "session, obviously.
8AM, Boston Park Plaza, Brookline conference room.
#ESS2025
www.russellsage.org/publications...
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
March 1, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
Attending #ESS2025 & interesting in donuts, education, and/ inequality?
Join us next Friday, 8AM for an author (me, @emilykpenner.bsky.social , @andrewpenner.bsky.social) meets critics (@rachelefish.bsky.social, @johndiamondphd.bsky.social, @jenjennings.bsky.social) discussion!
Join us next Friday, 8AM for an author (me, @emilykpenner.bsky.social , @andrewpenner.bsky.social) meets critics (@rachelefish.bsky.social, @johndiamondphd.bsky.social, @jenjennings.bsky.social) discussion!
March 1, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Reposted by Andrew Penner
Come hang out with us and this dream team of critics at #ESS2025 next Friday.
There’s still time to get a copy of the book before hand.
www.russellsage.org/publications...
There’s still time to get a copy of the book before hand.
www.russellsage.org/publications...
February 28, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Come hang out with us and this dream team of critics at #ESS2025 next Friday.
There’s still time to get a copy of the book before hand.
www.russellsage.org/publications...
There’s still time to get a copy of the book before hand.
www.russellsage.org/publications...