Aliya Saperstein

Aliya Saperstein is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Stanford University's School of Humanities and Sciences. Her research focuses on the social processes through which people perceive, name, and deploy seemingly immutable categorical differences such as race and sex, and how these processes create and maintain social inequality. She has made significant contributions to understanding racial fluidity, the measurement of race/ethnicity and sex/gender in surveys, and the implications of methodological decisions for studies of stratification and health disparities.

Her educational background includes:

• B.A. in Sociology from the University of Washington
• Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography from the University of California-Berkeley (2008)

Professor Saperstein's research interests span multiple interconnected areas examining how social categories shape inequality. She investigates racial fluidity and its relationship to group boundaries, stereotypes, and hierarchies. Her work on methodological decisions in survey research has been particularly influential, examining how the measurement of race/ethnicity and sex/gender affects studies of stratification and health disparities. She has made significant contributions to understanding multiracial identity, the social construction of age, and the intersection of race with genetic testing and precision medicine. Her research bridges sociology, demography, gender studies, and genomics.

Her recent publications reveal a consistent focus on the social construction of racial and gender categories, with increasing emphasis on methodological innovations and their implications for understanding inequality. Her work demonstrates how seemingly technical decisions about measurement can profoundly affect how we understand social stratification. The interdisciplinary nature of her research is evident in her publications across sociology, demography, genetics, and gender studies journals.

Her notable awards include:

• Early Achievement Award from the Population Association of America
• Roger V. Gould Prize from the American Journal of Sociology
• IPUMS Research Award, Minnesota Population Center
• Kimberle Crenshaw Outstanding Paper Award, SSSP Racial and Ethnic Minorities Division
• Oliver Cromwell Cox Best Article Award, ASA Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities
• Editor's Choice Award

Professor Saperstein has served on expert committees for the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and Medicine, contributing to consensus studies on 'The Use of Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research' (2024) and 'Measuring Sex, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation' (2022). Her research has been supported by various grants, including time as a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation (2014-15). She has collaborated extensively with researchers across disciplines, particularly in sociology, demography, and gender studies, producing influential work that has gained attention from national media outlets including NPR and The Colbert Report.

She directs the Lab for Social Research at Stanford, which focuses on developing innovative approaches to studying social categories and inequality. Her lab provides undergraduate research opportunities and collaborates with affiliated research centers across the university, fostering interdisciplinary scholarship on race, gender, and social inequality.