HELLO, I'M
Seth Behrends
Seth A. Behrends
PhD Candidate, Sociology
University of Illinois Chicago
Gender | Race | Family | Military | Social Psychology
About
Seth A. Behrends is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago. His research explores how gender and race operate within institutions, including families and the military. He examines work-family dynamics and public beliefs about inequality using qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Education
2019–Current
University of Illinois - Chicago – Chicago, IL
Doctorate of Philosophy; Sociology
2017–2019
University of Illinois - Chicago – Chicago, IL
Masters of Arts; Sociology
2012–2016
University of Northern Iowa
Bachelors of Arts; Sociology
Experience
Employment
RAND Corporation Adjunct Policy Analyst
Fall 2023 – Winter 2025
Internships
RAND Corporation
Summer 2023 Women, Peace, and Security Project
Advisors: Kyleanne Hunter, Joslyn Fleming
Teaching Assistantships
University of Illinois-Chicago
Spring 2019; Fall 2023 Sociology 100 – Introduction to Sociology
Spring 2018 Sociology 215 – Sociology of Childhood and Youth
Fall 2017 Sociology 224 – Gender and Society
Research Assistantships
Summer 2018 – Fall 2018; Summer 2020 Dr. Paul-Brian McInerney’s “Beer Scenes” Project
Graduate Assistantships
Summer 2019 – Summer 2023; Gender & Society Managing Editor
Fall 2024 - Present
Other Appointments
Spring 2018 Meeting Coordinator for Dr. Amy Bailey’s “Averted Lynching” Project”
Publications
Book Chapters
McInerney, P.-B., Adkins, T., Peña, T., & Behrends, S. 2023. “The Collaborative/Competitive Dynamics behind Local Craft Beer Scenes.” In D. C. Harvey, E. Jones, & N. G. Chapman (Eds.), Beer Places: The Micro-Geographies of Beer. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press.
Behrends, Seth A., and Barbara J. Risman. (Forthcoming). “Gender as a Social Structure.” Social Stratification, 5th Edition (New York: Routledge), ed. David Grusky, Nima Dahir, and Claire Daviss.
Behrends, Seth A. (Forthcoming). “Gendered Dynamics of Military Spousehood.” Beyond the Greedy Family? An Inquiry into the Changing Nature of the Military Getting Caught Between the Demands of their Families and their Organisation, (New York: Routledge), ed. Rene Moelker, Janja Vuga Beršnak, and Morten Ender.
Manuscripts Under Review
Behrends, Seth A. “Whiteness as a Gendered Framework: How White Chicagoans Explain Ethnoracial Inequality in Unemployment.” Under revision following Revise & Resubmit decision at Sociological Currents 01/2026
Manuscripts in Process
Behrends, Seth A. and Nancy Toure. “Intersectional Prototypicality and the Myth of Gender Neutrality: Examining White Americans’ Explanations for Racial Inequality in Unemployment.”
Bailey, Amy Kate, and Seth A. Behrends. “The U.S. Military and Out-Migration: Community Origins of New Enlistees, 1990 – 2008.”
Awards
University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate Student Council Travel Award (2024)
Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS) Special Competition for Young Investigators Winner (2021)
American Association for Public Opinion Research Student Travel Award (2020)
Affiliations
Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society (2016-present)
American Sociological Association (2018-present)
Sections: Sex and Gender; Race, Gender, and Class; Peace, War, and Social Conflict; Social Psychology; Family
Eastern Sociological Society (2021-present)
Midwest Sociological Society (2016)
Sociologists for Women in Society (2019-2023)