Erin A. Cech

Erin A. Cech is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Associate Professor by courtesy in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. She joined the University of Michigan in 2016 after serving as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University and faculty at Rice University. Cech earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego, and undergraduate degrees in both Electrical Engineering and Sociology from Montana State University.

Her research focuses on cultural mechanisms of inequality reproduction in STEM fields, particularly examining how inequality is perpetuated through seemingly innocuous cultural beliefs and practices. Cech investigates three primary research avenues: inequality in STEM professions (particularly regarding women, LGBTQ, and racially minoritized individuals), cultural definitions of 'good work' and 'good workers' that anchor inequality, and cultural understandings of inequality that uphold unequal social structures. She employs mixed methods approaches in her research, combining both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Cech's work has been widely recognized, including receiving the Henry Russel Award in 2021, the University of Michigan's highest honor for early to mid-career faculty. Her research has been funded by multiple National Science Foundation grants, including the first NSF grant ever awarded to study LGBTQ inclusion in STEM. Her publications span top sociology and interdisciplinary journals, with recent work examining intersectional privilege, engineering ableism, and meritocratic blindness in workplace contexts.

• Henry Russel Award (2021)
• Financial Times' Best Business Books of 2021 for The Trouble with Passion

Cech has authored two influential books: The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfilment at Work Fosters Inequality (2021) and Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering (2022, co-authored with Mary Blair-Loy). Her research has been cited in major media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Science. She has written op-eds for The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, and The Conversation, and is an in-demand international keynote speaker.