Samantha Simon

Samantha Simon is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, affiliated with both the School of Government and Public Policy and the School of Sociology. Her research focuses on policing, gender, race, and organizational inequality, employing ethnographic and qualitative methods. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Her upcoming book, Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence, stems from a year of ethnographic research at four police training academies. This work examines how police training emphasizes violence and intersects with gender and racial dynamics. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, and American Association for University Women.

Key research themes include the militarization of policing, organizational socialization processes in law enforcement, and the intersection of race and gender in institutional contexts. Her articles explore topics such as warrior policing ideologies, diversity initiatives in organizations, and gendered inequality in entertainment industries.

In advising and grants, she has secured funding from major institutions to support her work. Her research contributes to critical dialogues on systemic inequality and police violence, with implications for policy and organizational reform.