1 KYLA THOMAS Verna and Peter Dauterive Hall • Office 401D 635 Downey Way • Los Angeles, CA 90089 [email protected] • (213) 821-8923
EMPLOYMENT
University of Southern California Associate Sociologist, Center for Economic and Social Research 2016 - present
EDUCATION
Princeton University Ph.D., Sociology 2016 Dissertation: “Hidden (Dis)Advantages of Class: How Cultural Signals of Class Shape U.S. Labor Market Outcomes” Committee: Paul DiMaggio (Chair), Viviana Zelizer, Devah Pager, Susan Fiske
M.A., Sociology 2012 Comprehensive Exams: Sociology of Culture, Economic Sociology, Social Stratification
University of California, Los Angeles B.A., Sociology and Communication Studies (Dual Major) 2008 College Honors, Departmental Honors in Sociology, Summa Cum Laude
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Articles *Authors contributed equally
Thomas, Kyla. 2019. “When Disney Came to Broadway: Assessing the Impact of Corporatization in an Art World.” Poetics, 77: 101384. DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2019.101384.
Finch, Brian, Kyla Thomas, and Audrey Beck. 2019. “The Great Recession and Adverse Birth Outcomes: Evidence from California.” Social Science & Medicine – Population Health, 9: 100470. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100470.
Finch, Brian, Audrey Beck*, D. Brian Burghart*, Richard Johnson*, David Klinger*, and Kyla Thomas*. 2019. “Using Crowd-Sourced Data to Explore Police-Related-Deaths in the United States (2000–2017): The Case of Fatal Encounters”. Open Health Data, 6(1): 1. DOI: 10.5334/ohd.30.
Thomas, Kyla. 2018. “The Labor Market Value of Taste: An Experimental Study of Class Bias in U.S. Employment.” Sociological Science 5: 562-595.
Updated January 2020 2 Thomas, Kyla. 2017. “Sounds of Disadvantage: Musical Taste and the Origins of Ethnic Difference.” Poetics 60: 29-47.
Manuscripts Under Review & In Progress
Thomas, Kyla. “The Psychology of Distinction: How Cultural Tastes Shape Person Perception in the United States.” Under review.
Finch, Brian, Kyla Thomas, Audrey Beck, D. Brian Burghart, David Klinger, and Richard R. Johnson. “Assessing Data Completeness, Quality, and Representativeness of Justifiable Homicides (‘Felons Killed by Police’) in the FBI’s Supplemental Homicide Reports.” Under review.
Gibbons, Joseph, Audrey Beck, Kyla Thomas, and Brian Finch. “Determining Gentrification’s Relationship to Birth Outcomes in California Metropolitan Areas.” In progress.
Finch, Brian, Kyla Thomas, Audrey Beck, and Joseph Gibbons. “The Impact of Residing in a Gang Territory on Birth Outcomes: Evidence from Los Angeles County.” In progress.
Thomas, Kyla. “Class Mobility or Class Privilege? What Americans Value More in a Worker.” In progress.
Other Publications
Thomas, Kyla. “LABarometer: A new quarterly survey of L.A. County residents.” Online blog post. The Evidence Base (October 30, 2019)
Thomas, Kyla. “Are We All Snobs? How Cultural Tastes Affect Our Judgments of Others.” Online blog post. The Evidence Base (April 25, 2017).
Thomas, Kyla. “Is Class-Based Discrimination an Obstacle to Equal Opportunity in the Labor Market?” Online blog post. The Evidence Base (December 23, 2016).
CURRENT FUNDED PROJECTS
Project Director. “USC Dornsife-Union Bank Los Angeles Barometer.” Funded by MUFG Union Bank.
Principal Investigator. “Intersections of Race- and Class-Based Discrimination in the U.S. Labor Market.” Funded by National Science Foundation (PI: Kyla Thomas, SES-1729891)
Co-Investigator. “Spatial and Temporal Correlates of Specific-Cause Mortality.” Funded by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (PI: Brian Finch, R01 HD093382-01A1)
Co-Investigator. “SES Health Gradients in Late Life: Testing Models of Gene-Environment Interplay in an International Twin Consortium.” Funded by National Institute on Aging (PI’s: Nancy Pedersen, Brian Finch, Margaret Gatz, R01 AG059329-01)
Updated January 2020 3 COMPLETED FUNDED PROJECTS
Data Analyst. “Gangland Neighborhoods as a Potential Social Determinant of Health.” Funded by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (PI: Brian Finch, R21 HD088066-01)
Data Analyst. “The Effect of the Great Recession on Birth Outcomes.” Funded by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (PI: Brian Finch, R21 HD083037-02)
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND AWARDS
National Science Foundation Research Grant ($235,000) 2017 - 2020
Max Weber Fellowship, European University Institute (Declined) 2016
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship ($38,000) 2015 - 2016
Princeton University Travel Grants ($2,650) 2012 - 2015
Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship Honorable Mention (Alternate) 2014
Eastern Sociological Society Travel Award ($300) 2014
Princeton University Dissertation Grant ($1,000) 2014
Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation Dissertation Grant ($5,000) 2013
Center for the Study of Social Organization Graduate Research Award ($5,000) 2013
Princeton University Graduate Fellowship ($350,000) 2009 - 2014
Leo Kuper Memorial Award for Outstanding Senior Honors Thesis in 2008 Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
Summa Cum Laude, University of California, Los Angeles 2008
Phi Beta Kappa 2008
Departmental Honors in Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles 2008
College Honors, University of California, Los Angeles 2008
Undergraduate Research Scholar, University of California, 2007 - 2008 Los Angeles ($1,000)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching Transcript Program, Princeton University 2011 - 2016 Updated January 2020 4
Tutor, Bonner Prison Program, Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility Ant 110 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology 2013 Soc 281 Sociology of Race 2012
Preceptor, Department of Sociology, Princeton University Soc 227 Race and Ethnicity in Comparative Perspective 2011 Soc 340 God of Many Faces: Comparative Perspectives on Migration 2011 and Religion Soc 101 Introduction to Sociology 2010
RESEARCH POSITIONS
Research Assistant for Edward Telles, Department of Sociology, 2014 - 2016 Princeton University
Data Consultant, Data and Statistical Services Lab, Princeton University 2014
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
“The Psychology of Distinction: How Cultural Tastes Shape Person Perception in the United States” • Current Innovations in Probability-Based Household Internet Panel 2019 Research, Washington, DC
“Intersections of Race- and Class-Based Discrimination in the U.S. Labor Market” 2016 • Brown Bag Series, Center for Economic and Social Research, Los Angeles, CA
“The Psychology of Distinction: How Cultural Tastes Shape Class Perception and Impression Formation in the U.S.” • American Sociological Association, Section Session, Seattle, WA 2016 • Eastern Sociological Society, Section Roundtable, Boston, MA 2016
“The Hidden Value of Highbrow Taste: How Cultural Signals of Class Shape U.S. Labor Market Outcomes” • American Sociological Association, Section Session, Chicago, IL 2015 • Eastern Sociological Society, Panel Session, New York, NY 2015 • University of Michigan Inequality, Family, and Demography Working 2014 Group, Ann Arbor, MI
“Corporate Capitalism on the Great White Way” • American Sociological Association, Section Session, San Francisco, CA 2014 • Aage Sørensen Memorial Conference, Oxford, England 2014
“Signals of Class: Do They Affect Hiring Outcomes?”
Updated January 2020 5
• American Sociological Association, Regular Session, New York, NY 2013 • Center for the Study of Social Organization, Princeton, NJ 2012 • Experimental Methods Workshop, Princeton, NJ 2011
“Taste, Assimilation, and the Case of Mexican Americans” • American Sociological Association, Section Roundtable, Denver, CO 2012 • Center for the Study of Social Organization, Princeton, NJ 2012 • Center for Migration and Development Paper Series, Princeton, NJ 2011
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Member, Search Committee 2017 - present USC Center for Economic and Social Research
Organizer, Experimental Methods Workshop 2014 Department of Sociology, Princeton University
Organizer, Graduate Student Works in Progress seminar series, 2011 - 2012 Department of Sociology and Office of Population Research, Princeton University
Cohort Representative, Graduate Student Advisory Committee, 2011 - 2012 Department of Sociology, Princeton University
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Volunteer Coach, Science Olympiad, Weigand Elementary School 2015 - 2018
Organizer, Graduate Student Softball Team, Princeton University 2013
Tutor, Bonner Prison Program, Albert C. Wagner Youth 2012 - 2013 Correctional Facility
Member, Latino Graduate Student Association 2010 - 2012
Voter Registration Worker, Democrats Abroad - Paris, France 2008
Updated January 2020