MacKenzie Christensen

MacKenzie Christensen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oregon, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences. Her work bridges gender, digital technologies, and inequality through interdisciplinary methodologies.

• Research Interests: Gender, Digital Technologies, Family and Intimate Relationships, Life Course, Inequality and Stratification, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
• Office: 721 PLC, 1291 University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403
• Email: macc@uoregon.edu

Christensen's research explores the intersections of gender and digital technologies, analyzing how these dynamics shape family and intimate relationships and reinforce inequality. Her recent work includes studies on:

• Motherhood and Incarceration: How mothers navigate parenting when their sons are incarcerated.
• Digital Boundary Work: The role of digital skills in work-to-family spillover across Europe.
• Gender Confidence Gaps: Cross-national analyses of self-assessed technological ability among women and men.
• Dating Apps and Sexual Scripts: How platforms like Tinder influence heteronormative sexual expectations for young women.

Her publications highlight trends in carceral sociology, digital behavior, and structural inequality. Selected works include “The Carceral Contradictions of Motherhood” (forthcoming, American Sociological Review) and “Tracing the Gender Confidence Gap in Computing” (Social Science Research, 2023).