What's in a relationship?: testing theories of social capital using data from mentoring relationships

Using data from the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, I test multiple theories of social capital to determine which aspects of social capital lead to greater educational outcomes in a dyadic relationship. The results indicate that time spent together is the most significant and positive indicator, and is moderated by racial homogeneity of the dyad

A Matter of Degrees: Educational Credentials and Race and Gender Discrimination in the Labor Market

Racial and gender inequality in economic outcomes, particularly among the college educated, persists throughout U.S. society. Scholars debate whether this inequality stems from differences in human capital (e.g. college selectivity, GPA, major) or employer discrimination on the basis of race and gender. However, limited measures of human capital and the inherent difficulties in measuring discrimination using observational data make determining the cause of these differences in labor market outcomes a difficult endeavor. This research examines employment opportunities for hypothetical graduates of elite top-ranked universities versus less selective institutions. I use an experimental computerized audit design to create matched candidate pairs and apply for 1,008 jobs on a national job search website. The results show that although a credential from an elite university results in more call-backs for all candidates, black candidates from elite universities only do as well as white candidates from less selective universities. Moreover, race results in a double penalty: when employers respond to black candidates it is for jobs with lower starting salaries and of lower quality than those of white peers. These racial differences in response rates and starting salary ranges suggest that a bachelor's degree, even one from an elite institution, cannot fully counteract the importance of race in U.S. society. Although gender differences are not statistically significant, race and gender interact to create a tiered system of opportunities. Finally, the results suggest that college major selection plays a critical role for black but not female candidates. Overall this research finds that both racial discrimination and differences in human capital contribute to economic inequality.Doctor of Philosoph

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe

White House publicity operations during the Korean War, June 1950 – June 1951

Truman was the first modern president to face the challenge of selling a limited war. Based on a wide range of primary sources, this article explores the impact that the Korean War had on Truman’s publicity operations. Whereas all wars place important new demands on presidents to speak out more frequently and forcefully, limited wars place significant constraints on what presidents can say and do. During the Korean War, Truman refused to go public at key moments, often employed rhetoric that was more restrained than at earlier moments of the Cold War, and shied away from creating new structures to coordinate the official message. Such actions also had important consequences. In 1950-51, they hampered the task of effective presidential communication, and contributed to the war’s growing unpopularity. For the longer term, they demonstrated the difficulties of selling a limited war, and hence place into sharper context the problems that beset Truman’s successors during the subsequent conflict in Vietnam