Emily K. Carian

Emily Carian’s research broadly asks how identity, status, and cultural beliefs contribute to the stalled gender revolution. Much of her research asks what motivates individuals to engage in backlash, or those behaviors and attitudes that work against gender equality. She has explored this question using qualitative and quantitative methods among several populations, including American adults, voters, and college students. Her current book project uses in-depth interviews of men who are feminists and men who are men’s rights activists to examine how identity motivates behaviors that challenge and reinforce the gender order. Her work with the VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab explores young people’s beliefs about gender inequality and their implications for the future.

Carian received her BA in Sociology from Dartmouth College in 2011 and her PhD in Sociology from Stanford in 2019.