Reggie Byron

Notable Achievements

Southwestern faculty and students attended the American Sociological Association’s (ASA) Annual Meeting, August 10–13. 

  • Associate Professor of Sociology Reggie Byron gave a presentation titled “Workplace Discrimination and the Racialized Character of Organizations.” He also sat on an ASA panel of the Task Force on First-Generation and Working-Class Persons in Sociology for the second year in a row.
  • Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe and Madeline Carrola ’19 gave a presentation titled “Racialized Surveillance of Parks and Pools in a Liberal, Predominantly White Neighborhood.” 
  • Four sociology majors participated in the 2019 ASA’s Honors Program and presented their papers. Madeline Carrola ’19 and Molly McConnell ’20 presented their capstone and research-methods papers, which were the basis of their admission to the program. Samantha Pentecost 19 and Veronica Ciotti ’19 presented their capstone papers and were admitted by virtue of their second- and third-place wins in the annual Alpha Kappa Delta International Honor Society of Sociology undergraduate paper competition.
  • In addition, Savannah Scott  ’19 received the ASA Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities 2019 Joe Feagin Distinguished Undergraduate Student Paper Award for her capstone project, “Medically Policing Black Female Bodies: Black Women’s Experiences with Birth Control in Austin, Texas.”
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Reggie Byron

Associate Professor of Sociology

Expertise

Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Stratification; Employment and Campus Climates; Criminology; Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

Professor Reggie Byron strives to challenge students to become critically engaged scholars who have an appreciation for quantitative and qualitative methods, sociological theory, and the sociological imagination.

He has also shared research experiences with a number of Southwestern students outside of the classroom, including, for example: Melissa Garcia (’12) and Griffin Ferry (’12) (see “Food for Thought” article), William Molidor (’12) and Andrew Cantu (’13) (see “U.S. Newspapers’ Portrayals” article), Bree Billingsley (’14) and Nathan Tuttle (’14) (see “Performativity Double Standards” article), and Holly O’Hara (’17) and Dakota Cortez (’19) (see “Neutralized Hegemonic Banter” paper).

Byron is currently working with five current students and three recent graduates on completing two grant funded summer research projects. The fruits of their labor have been well received at professional conferences and are at various stages of the peer-review process. These activities reflect his belief that teaching and learning are ongoing and should extend beyond the walls of the classroom.

Byron received his PhD in Sociology from the Ohio State University in 2009, his MA in Sociology from the Ohio State University 2005, his MA in Psychology from State University of New York at Buffalo in 2003, and his BA in Psychology from State University of New York at Geneseo in 2000.

He is a member of the American Sociological Association, Law and Society Association, and Southern Sociological Society, and currently sits on the Editorial Board for Contexts (2017-2019) and for Social Currents (2015-2019). Previously, he was part of the American Sociological Association’s Honors Program Advisory Panel (2014-2017) and on the Editorial Board for Work and Occupations (2015-2018).

  • Biography

    Professor Reggie Byron strives to challenge students to become critically engaged scholars who have an appreciation for quantitative and qualitative methods, sociological theory, and the sociological imagination.

    He has also shared research experiences with a number of Southwestern students outside of the classroom, including, for example: Melissa Garcia (’12) and Griffin Ferry (’12) (see “Food for Thought” article), William Molidor (’12) and Andrew Cantu (’13) (see “U.S. Newspapers’ Portrayals” article), Bree Billingsley (’14) and Nathan Tuttle (’14) (see “Performativity Double Standards” article), and Holly O’Hara (’17) and Dakota Cortez (’19) (see “Neutralized Hegemonic Banter” paper).

    Byron is currently working with five current students and three recent graduates on completing two grant funded summer research projects. The fruits of their labor have been well received at professional conferences and are at various stages of the peer-review process. These activities reflect his belief that teaching and learning are ongoing and should extend beyond the walls of the classroom.

    Byron received his PhD in Sociology from the Ohio State University in 2009, his MA in Sociology from the Ohio State University 2005, his MA in Psychology from State University of New York at Buffalo in 2003, and his BA in Psychology from State University of New York at Geneseo in 2000.

    He is a member of the American Sociological Association, Law and Society Association, and Southern Sociological Society, and currently sits on the Editorial Board for Contexts (2017-2019) and for Social Currents (2015-2019). Previously, he was part of the American Sociological Association’s Honors Program Advisory Panel (2014-2017) and on the Editorial Board for Work and Occupations (2015-2018).

  • Research

    Byron’s primary research centers on race, gender, and sexual orientation stratification. Specifically, he uses a mixed methods approach to explain the patterns and processes of contemporary discrimination. He is interested in how these processes manifest in occupational, educational, and criminological contexts.

  • Publications

    Recent Peer Reviewed Publications (since 2013)

    ** denotes Southwestern undergraduate student co-author

    Books

    Byron, Reginald A. and Vincent J. Roscigno. Race & Gender Discrimination and the Stalled Revolution (Under Contract with ASA Rose Series; Russell Sage)

    Peer-Reviewed Publications

    2019  Byron, Reginald A. and Vincent Roscigno. “Bureaucracy, Discrimination, and the Racialized Character of Organizational Life.” Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 60: 151-169. 

    https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/S0733-558X20190000060009

    2018  Byron, Reginald A., William Molidor**, and Andrew Cantu**. “U.S. Newspapers’ Portrayals of Home Invasion Crime.” The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice 57 (1): 250-277. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/hojo.12257

    2017 Byron, Reginald A. “Teaching About Police Violence with Open Source Police Shootings Data and Census Data” TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. http://trails.asanet.org/Pages/Resource.aspx?ResourceID=13468

    2017 Byron, Reginald A., Maria R. Lowe, Brianna Billingsley**, and Nathan Tuttle**. “Performativity Double Standards and the Sexual Orientation Climate at a Southern Liberal Arts University.” Journal of Homosexuality 64(5): 671-696. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00918369.2016.1196994

    2015 Krivo, Lauren J., Reginald A. Byron, Catherine A. Calder, Ruth D. Peterson, Christopher R. Browning, Mei-Po Kwan, and Jae Yong Lee. “Patterns of Local Segregation: Do They Matter for Crime?” Social Science Research 54: 303-318. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X1500157X

    2015 Byron, Reginald A. “Teaching the Sociological Imagination with SAT Data.” TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. http://trails.asanet.org/Pages/Resource.aspx?ResourceID=12922

    2014 Lowe, Maria R., Reginald A. Byron, and Susan Mennicke. “The Racialized Impact of Study Abroad on Students Subsequent Interracial Interaction.” Education Research International www.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2014/232687/

    2014 Byron, Reginald A. and Vincent J. Roscigno. “Relational Power, Legitimation and Pregnancy Discrimination.” Gender & Society 28(3): 435-462. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0891243214523123
    *Press Coverage: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/study-employers-discrimination-pregnant-workers/

    2013 Byron, Reginald A. “Teaching Tokenism with Occupational Sex Segregation Data.” TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. http://trails.asanet.org/Pages/ResourceID=12729

    2013 Lowe, Maria R., Reginald A. Byron, Griffin Ferry**, and Melissa Garcia** “Food for Thought: Frequent Interracial Dining as a Predictor of Students’ Racial Climate Perceptions.” The Journal of Higher Education 84(4): 559-600. (Lowe and Byron are co-lead authors) http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_higher_education/summary/v084/84.4.lowe.html
    *Press Coverage: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/23/breaking-bread

     

    Other Recent Publications

    2018 Byron, Reginald A. Review of Hard Work is Not Enough: Gender and Racial Inequality in an Urban Workspace by Katrinell M. Davis. American Journal of Sociology 123 (5): 1500-1501. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/695651

    2015 Byron, Reginald A. Review of The Color Bind: Talking (and Not Talking) about Race at Work by Erica Gabrielle Foldy and Tamara R. Buckley. Work and Occupations 42(3): 381-383. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0730888415570574

    Works Under Review

    Byron, Reginald A. “Race and Public Accommodations Discrimination in an Era of Colorblindness.” Revise and Resubmit

    Lowe, Maria R., Reginald A. Byron, Holly O’Hara**, Dakota Cortez**. “Neutralized Hegemonic Banter: The Persistence of Gendered and Racialized Joking Among Undergraduate Students.” 

  • Presentations

    Recent Papers/Presentations (since 2015)
    ** denotes Southwestern undergraduate student co-author

    2019 Byron, Reginald A. and Vincent J. Roscigno. “The Uneven Effects of Legal Representation on Employment Discrimination Charge Outcomes.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. Washington, DC (May).

    2018 Byron, Reginald A. “Race and Public Accommodations Discrimination in an Era of Colorblindness.” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA (August).

    2018 Byron, Reginald A. and Vincent Roscigno. “Bureaucratic Legitimation, Discrimination, and the Racialized Character of Organizational Life.” Paper presented at the Southern Sociological Society Meetings, New Orleans, LA (April).

    2017 Lowe, Maria R., Reginald A. Byron, Holly O’Hara**, and Dakota Cortez**. “Neutralizing the Harm of Sexist and Racist Jokes Among Undergraduate Students.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal, Canada (August).

    2017 Byron, Reginald A. “Employment Discrimination Activism and Intergenerational Change.” Paper presented at the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES) International Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland (June).

    2017 Roscigno, Vincent J. and Reginald A. Byron. “Bureaucratic Neutrality, Employment and Race, Sex, and Age Discrimination.” Paper presented at the International Meeting on Law and Society, Mexico City, Mexico (June).

    2017 Byron, Reginald A., Maria R. Lowe, Dakota Cortez**, and Holly O’Hara**. “Sexual Assault, Zero Tolerance Policies, and the Gender Climate at a Liberal Arts University”. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, Greenville, SC (April).

    2016 Byron, Reginald A., Maria R. Lowe, Nathan Tuttle**, and Brianna Billingsley**. “The Paradox of Colorblindness: Undergraduate Students’ Selective Perceptions about Race and Racial Diversity.” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Seattle, WA (August).

    2015 Lowe, Maria R. and Reginald A. Byron. “The Specter of Gendered Aggression: Predicting Students’ Level of Comfort at Weekend Parties.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL (August).

    2015 Byron, Reginald A. “From Boston to Belfast: The Rhetoric of Racism in Employment Discrimination Cases in the U.S. and the U.K.” “Paper presented at the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES) International Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland (June).

     

    Recent Invited Presentations

    2018 Byron, Reginald A. Guest Lecturer for Educational Research & Design, University of Texas-Austin, College of Education (October).

    2017 Byron, Reginald A. “Implicit Bias, Microaggressions, and the March Toward More Inclusive Pedagogies” SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY (April).

    2016 Byron, Reginald A. “Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses of Employment Discrimination Charge Data” EEOC DataNet Conference, Washington, D.C. (June).