About Mary Blair-Loy
Sociologist Mary Blair-Loy studies gender, work and family, social inequalities, and STEM fields.
Mary Blair-Loy (she/her) is Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Center for Research on Gender in STEMM at UC San Diego.
She conducts basic social science with the highest possible rigor and creativity. She uses qualitative and quantitative methods to study gender and inequalities in professional fields. Much scholarship focuses on the strategic trade-offs or implicit biases of individuals. In contrast, Professor Blair-Loy analyzes deeply-held cultural beliefs about work, family, and personal life. These include the work devotion schema (which defines professional work as a single-minded, 24/7 vocation) and the schema of scientific excellence (which valorizes culturally masculine traits such as assertive self-promotion and displays of individual brilliance). Her award-winning books Misconceiving Merit and Competing Devotions show that these cultural schemas are broadly embraced yet can harm individuals and create social inequalities. Recent research shows how professionals who are women, mothers, Black and Latinx men, and/or LGBTQ often face cultural models and practices that devalue them in STEM careers and impede scientific innovation.
Much of Professor Blair-Loy’s work is funded by the National Science Foundation, including a 2022 study with colleagues in Science, which analyzes how using hiring rubrics can smuggle in gender bias yet can also be used with sociological astuteness to reach more equitable hiring decisions. Other research has been funded by the Max Planck Sciences Po and the Norwegian Research Council, including research on the gender glass ceiling in the U.S. and Norway.
Her work has broader impact. She has been recognized as a “Top Ten Extraordinary Contributor” in “Landmark Contributions” category and “Top Fifty Contributor” overall in the multidisciplinary work-family field. Her PNAS article with Erin Cech, documenting substantial attrition of new parents from STEM, was recognized as a Top 10 PNAS Article of 2019 to impact public understanding of science. Misconceiving Merit won the 2023 AERA (American Educational Research Association) Outstanding Publication Award in Higher Ed. (Division J).
In addition to conducting basic research, she supports real efforts to improve the working lives of professionals. She offers expert social scientific opinion to legal counsel. She is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine Committee on Policies and Practices for Supporting Family Caregivers Working in SEM (2023–2024). Recent public talks include a 2023 talk “Misconceiving Merit in Academia” and a presentation at the 2022 National Academies workshop on the long-term impact of Covid-19 on the future careers of women in STEM. She works with universities and departments striving to improve inclusive excellence on campus.
Op-eds are found in Times Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed and Issues in Science and Technology. She helps lead MCTEN, an NSF-funded project to help support underrepresented faculty in STEM in the San Diego region. In 2015, as Associate Vice Chancellor in the UC San Diego Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, she led a successful multi-partner effort to make the university’s faculty family accommodation policies more generous and inclusive.
Professor Blair-Loy is the past chair of two of the largest sections in the American Sociological Association: Sex and Gender; and Organizations, Occupations, and Work and currently serves on two NSF research project Advisory Boards. Her research has received attention in many venues, such as Parents, Science, Nature, The New York Times, Inside Higher Ed, and THE Campus. She teaches courses in gender and the workplace at UC San Diego.
She lives in California with her family.
