My name is Alexis M. Dennis and I am a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I began my academic career as a nontraditional student at the City Colleges of Chicago and continued through Northeastern Illinois University, where I earned my undergraduate degree in Sociology with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Broadly, my research areas of interest are in social mobility, higher education, race/ethnicity, social psychology/social interaction, and qualitative methods.
My dissertation research primarily focuses on the examination of graduate student communities and the unique experiences of graduates from marginalized backgrounds in academic settings. The aim of the work is to better understand how their experiences influence their career paths, and shed some light on how we might address inequities present in graduate environments.
I am currently serving as a research/project assistant at the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW-Madison. There, I contribute to studies that explore how families, especially those engaged with the child support program, perceive and navigate child support and how these perceptions affect their lives.
You may take a look at my curriculum vitae for further information. .