Assistant Professor of Higher Education Christian Michael Smith studies class and race stratification, with particular attention to higher education as a site where this stratification can be reinforced or ameliorated. His research applies quasi-experimental designs and other causal inference strategies to U.S. national surveys and large, statewide education databases. Christian has published his research in a variety of academic journals across disciplines, including Social Forces, Educational Researcher, Research in Higher Education, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Socius, Social Currents, Sociology of Education, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, and The American Mathematical Monthly. Christian is an enthusiast of evidence-based teaching. He holds a Pedagogy Certificate from the University of California, Merced, and has a decade of training in how to teach math and statistics effectively and equitably. Christian earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned his B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and B.A. in Educational Studies from Macalester College. Before joining the McBee Institute in 2024, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Higher Education, Race, and the Economy Lab at the University of California, Merced. Curriculum Vitae: Smith_CV_Sep24.pdf (139.14 KB) Contact Information Email: ChristianSmith@uga.edu Office: Meigs Hall 006 Other Information Personal Website: website Education Education: Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison M.S. in Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison B.A. in Applied Mathematics & Statistics and B.A. in Educational Studies, Macalester College Selected Publications Smith, C.M., A.D. Villalobos (equal authors), L.T. Hamilton, C. Eaton. 2024. “Promising or Predatory? Online Education in Non-Profit and For-Profit Universities.” Social Forces, 102(3):952-977. Smith, C.M. and N. Hirschl. 2023 “Mixed Signals? Economically (Dis)advantaged Students’ College Attendance under Mandatory College and Career Readiness Assessments.” Educational Researcher 52(3):131-143. Hirschl, N. and C.M. Smith. 2023. “Advanced Placement Gatekeeping and Racialized Tracking.” Sociology of Education 96(3):190-210. Smith, C.M. 2022. “Does State Allocation of University Funding Moderate Effectively Maintained Inequality?” Social Currents 9(3):245-264. Smith, C.M. 2020. “In the Footsteps of Siblings: College Attendance Disparities and the Intragenerational Transmission of Educational Advantage.” Socius 6:2378023120921633. Hirschl, N. and C.M. Smith. 2020. “Well-Placed: The Geography of Opportunity and High School Effects on College Attendance.” Research in Higher Education 61(5):567-587. Smith, C.M., E. Grodsky, and J.R. Warren. 2019. “Late-Stage Educational Inequality: Can Selection on Noncognitive Skills Explain Waning Social Background Effects?” Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 63:100424. Courses Taught Courses Regularly Taught: EDHI 8910 EDHI 8910L
