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Amy Stich

Blurred image of the arch used as background for stylistic purposes.
Associate Professor of Higher Education

As a sociologist of education and qualitative researcher, Amy Stich is interested in issues of inequality of educational access, opportunity, and outcome relative to social class and race. Her independent research, supported by a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, examines the structure and social consequences of postsecondary tracking. 

Stich has published widely in academic journals including Sociology of EducationBritish Journal of Sociology of EducationAmerican Educational Research JournalUrban Education, and Review of Educational Research. She is the author of Access to Inequality: Reconsidering Class, Knowledge, and Capital in Higher Education  (Lexington Books) and the co-editor of The Working Classes and Higher Education: Inequality of Access, Opportunity, and Outcome (Routledge). Stich serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the British Journal of Sociology of Education and the Editorial Review Board of The Journal of Higher Education.

Stich received her PhD from the University at Buffalo where she was also a postdoctoral research associate on a longitudinal ethnographic study of student transitions from high school to college, supported by the National Science Foundation. Prior to joining the Institute of Higher Education, Stich was an assistant professor in the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations at Northern Illinois University.

Curriculum Vitae:
Email:
astich@uga.edu
Education:
  • Ph.D., University at Buffalo
Research Interests:

Dr. Stich's primary interests of scholarly inquiry are in sociology of education, qualitative methodologies, sociology of higher education, and social theory.

Grants:

Stich, A. E., Research Fellow. Reducing Inequities in Postsecondary Debt Repayment through a Multi-Sector Research-Practice Partnership. William T. Grant Foundation, (Co-Sponsors: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Spencer Foundation), $650,000 (UGA Sub-award, $72,410).

Webber, K.L. PI, & Stich, A.E., co-PI. The Effect of Geographic Locale on Access to Work-Related Experiential Activities. National Science Foundation, $690,027.

 

Stich, A. E. (2020). Beneath the White Noise of Postsecondary Sorting: A Case Study of the “Low” Track in Higher Education. The Journal of Higher Education.

Whatley, M. & Stich, A. E. (2020). From exclusive to inclusive: A mixed-methods investigation of study abroad participation and practices. The Journal of Higher Education.

Cipollone, K., Stich, A. E. & Weis, L. (2020). STEM for All: Student Identities and The Paradox of STEM Democratization. Teachers College Record, 122(2), 1-67.

Stich, A.E. (2018). Stratification with honors: A case study of the “high” track in higher education. Special Issue of Social Sciences (Guest Editors: Simon Marginson and Vikki Bolivar), 7(10), 1-17.

Stich, A.E. & Freie, C. (Eds.). (2016). The working classes and higher education: inequality of access, opportunity, and outcome. New York: Routledge.

Stich, A. (2012, 2014). Access to inequality: reconsidering class, knowledge, and capital in higher education. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Cipollone, K. & Stich, A.E. (2017). Shadow capital: the democratization of college preparatory education. Sociology of Education, 90(4), 333-354.

Stich, A.E. & Cipollone, K. (2017). In and through the urban educational ‘reform churn’: The illustrative power of qualitative longitudinal research. Urban Education.

Stich, A.E. & Reeves, T.D. (2016). Massive open online courses and underrepresented students’ access to higher education in the United States. The Internet and Higher Education, 32, 58-71.

Weis, L., Eisenhart, M., Cipollone, K, Stich, A., Nikischer, A., Hanson, J., Ohle, S., & Dominguez, R. (2015). In the guise of STEM education reform: opportunity structures and outcomes in inclusive STEM-focused high schools. American Educational Research Journal, 52(6),1024-1059.

Stich, A.E., & Colyar, J.E. (2013). Thinking relationally about studying ‘up.’ British Journal of Sociology of Education, 36(5), 729-746.

Courses Regularly Taught:
Of note:
  • 2016 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
News Featuring Amy Stich

Melissa Whatley (PhD 2019) and Amy Stich collaborated on a recent article published in Journal of Mixed Methods Research, "Pushing the Integration Envelope: A Network Analysis of Study Abroad Website Content."

Amy Stich, Elizabeth Ndika, Kanler Cumbass, and Collin Case recently presented their paper, Negotiating Ourselves: Navigating Paradigmatic Conflict and Diverse Identities in Collaborative Qualitative Research at the 2021 ICQI Conference.

IHE Research Roundtable brought together a group of research awardees and reviewers to share their experience and answer questions about getting dissertation research funding from NAE/Spencer Foundation, AERA, and NSF/AERA.

On November 6, the Institute welcomed back Angela Bell (PhD 2009) and Melissa Whatley (PhD 2019) for virtual presentations on the state of study abroad research and how these programs can survive the pandemic and emerge as agents for more equitable…

Nolan Cabrera shared his experiences in higher education, particularly as he researched his book, White Guys on Campus, with members of the IHE community on Wednesday, November 3.

FACULTY PRESENT AT EAIR IN BUDAPEST

Research on tracking systems in post-secondary education by Amy Stich appears in the Journal of Higher Education.

Researchers in the UGA Institute of Higher Education were awarded $690,027 by the National Science Foundation to study how students’ access to experiential learning opportunities is affected by their proximity to areas with major economic and workforce activity…

Melissa Whatley (PhD 2019) and Amy Stich study inequalities in access to study abroad opportunities. Their latest research findings are published in The Journal of Higher Education online.

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