Dawn Marie Dow

Dawn Marie Dow is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, a J.D. from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Sociology and Africana Studies from Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Dow’s research focuses on intersections of race, class, and gender, particularly within middle and upper-middle-class African American communities. Her work examines cultural expectations of motherhood, racial inequality in workplaces and legal systems, and the experiences of millennial men of color in predominantly white institutions.

She authored the award-winning book Mothering While Black: The Boundaries and Burdens of Middle-Class Parenthood (2019), and her research has been published in journals such as Gender & Society, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Sociology of Race & Ethnicity. Dr. Dow previously served as Faculty Director of the Critical Race Initiative (2019–2021) and remains affiliated with the Maryland Population Research Center. She is also a Deputy Editor for the Journal of Marriage and Family and serves on the editorial board of Contexts.