Dr. Christina Steidl

Associate Dean Professor, Sociology

Contact

1310 Ben Graves Drive
Morton Hall
Room 116F
Huntsville, AL 35899
Campus Map

256.824.2299
christina.steidl@uah.edu

Biography

After earning a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Social Sciences/Human Development from the University of Chicago, Christina Steidl spent several years helping to develop the First Year Experience program at Kent State University in Ohio and then moved south to earn her Ph.D. in Sociology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her areas of expertise include social inequality, sociology of education, and social theory. Her research focuses on the processes within organizations by which gender and racial inequalities are reproduced. Current and former research projects include: the effects of school segregation on racial achievement gaps and racial disparities in suspensions; gender inequalities in faculty career trajectories; educational and career outcomes for veterans of the U.S. military; and the construction and revision of commemorative spaces and narratives.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

  • Ph.D., Sociology, Emory University, 2012
  • M.A., Social Sciences, The University of Chicago, 2001
  • B.A., Psychology, The University of Chicago, 2001

Honors & Awards

  • U.S. Department of Education National Professional Development Grant. "The DIAL Method: Improving Teaching for Students with Limited English Proficiency” PI: Andrea Word/Co-I: Christina Steidl/Co-I: Amanda Giles $2,799,244 (2022-2027)
  • National Science Foundation Grant (SES 2310557) "Collaborative Research: Trajectories and Transitions: Military Service as a Gendered Pathway into STEM?" PIs: Christina Steidl, UAH / Regina Werum, UNL / Simon Cheng, UConn $557,275 (September 2023-August 2025)
  • National Science Foundation Grant (SES 1728044) "Collaborative Research: How Military Service Shapes STEM Trajectories" PIs: Christina Steidl, UAH & Regina Werum, UNL $228,600 (September 2017-August 2020)
  • Outstanding Faculty Member Award, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences University of Alabama in Huntsville, 2020
  • University Distinguished Teaching Award University of Alabama in Huntsville, 2017
  • New Faculty Research Grant "Gender Performance and the Negotiation of Career: Women's Experiences in the U.S. Military." $9,532. University of Alabama in Huntsville, 2015
  • National Summer Data Policy Institute Fellowship AIR/NCES/NSF, 2011
  • Dean's Teaching Fellowship Emory University (accepted), 2010-11
  • Community Building and Social Change Fellowship, Office of University and Community Partnerships Emory University (declined), 2010-11
  • Mellon Graduate Teaching Fellowship Emory University (declined), 2010-11

Affiliations

  • American Sociological Association
  • Sociologists for Women in Society
  • Southern Sociological Society

Expertise

  • Social Inequality
  • Sociology of Education
  • Gender and Work
  • Sociological Theory
  • Collective Memory

Recent Publications

  • Werum, Regina,Christina Steidl, Sela Harcey and Jacob Absalon. 2020. Military Service and STEM Employment: Do Veterans have an Advantage? Social Science Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2020.102478

  • Steidl, Christina, Regina Werum, Sela Harcey, Jacob Absalon, and Alice MillerMacPhee. 2020. Soldiers to Scientists: Gender, Military Service, and STEM Degree Earning. Socius.

  • Kendralin Freeman, Dennis Condron and Christina Steidl. 2020. Structures of Stratification: Advancing a Sociological Debate over Culture and Resources. Critical Sociology 46: 191-206. DOI: 10.1177/0896920518823888

  • Christina Steidl and Regina Werum. 2019. If All You Have is a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail: Operationalization Matters. Sociology Compass 13(8). DOI: 10.1111/soc4.12727

  • Steidl, Christina R. and Aislinn Roxanne Brookshire. 2018. Just One of the Guys until Shower Time: How Symbolic Embodiment Threatens Women's Inclusion in the U.S. Military. Gender, Work and Organization 36:1271-88. DOI:10.1111/gwao.12320

  • Steidl, Christina R. and Claire E. Sterk. 2016. Interpreting Productivity: Symbolic Negotiation of Gendered Faculty Career Trajectories in the U.S. Symbolic Interaction, 39(4): 595-614. DOI:10.1002/symb.254

  • Freeman, Kendralin J. and Christina R. Steidl. 2016. Distribution, Composition and Exclusion: How School Segregation Impacts Racist Disciplinary Patterns. Race & Social Problems, 8: 171-85. DOI: 10.1007/s12552-016-9174-9