Catherine R. Albiston

Catherine R. Albiston is a Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds affiliate appointments in the Sociology Department and previously at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Her research focuses on law's role in social change, particularly gender equality, employment discrimination, and public interest law's impact on democracy. Albiston earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from Stanford University, and J.D. and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley.

• Education: B.A./M.A. Stanford; J.D./Ph.D. UC Berkeley

Her work bridges legal and sociological frameworks, examining how institutions like family leave policies and public interest organizations shape systemic inequalities. She authored the influential 2010 book Institutional Inequality and the Mobilization of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Albiston's research explores workplace bias against caregivers, algorithmic fairness, and the structural challenges facing public interest law practitioners.

Her scholarship emphasizes rights mobilization strategies and the paradoxes of legal empowerment. Current projects investigate how socioeconomic status influences perceptions of algorithmic fairness and the evolving role of public interest law in crisis contexts.

• Key Affiliations: Law and Society Association, American Sociological Association, Work and Family Researchers Network