Annette Lareau

Annette Lareau is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with the School of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on family life, social class, and institutional interactions, with notable works including Unequal Childhoods and We Thought It Would Be Heaven. She has held roles such as ASA President and received awards like the Provost’s Award for Teaching. Her current research examines high-net-worth families, funded by NSF and Russell Sage Foundation.

Education: Ph.D. (1984), M.A. (1978), and B.A. (1974) in Sociology from University of California, Berkeley and Santa Cruz.

Research Interests: Family dynamics, social class disparities, education policy, refugee experiences, and wealth transmission. Her work bridges ethnography and theoretical frameworks like Bourdieu’s cultural capital.

Awards:

• ASA Distinguished Scholarship Award (Home Advantage)
• Multiple ASA Section Awards (Unequal Childhoods)
• UPenn Provost’s Award (2020)

Advocacy & Grants: Advises doctoral students and chairs professional committees. Research supported by NSF, Spencer Foundation, and Russell Sage Foundation. Current projects include a study on 75 families with inherited vs. self-made wealth.

Labs/Teams: Leads qualitative studies on wealth dynamics and refugee integration, collaborating with institutions like Population Studies Center.