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New Mexico State University
Sociology Program
College of Arts and Sciences
Sociology Program: Faculty

Dr. Sandra Way Sociology of Education, Stratification, Race/Ethnicity and Gender, Juvinile Delinquency and Sociology of the Family

Education: Ph.D. University of Arizona, 2003, Assistant Professor

Areas of Interest:
Sandra Way’s specialization is in sociology of education and stratification, particularly race/ethnicity and gender. Her research and teaching experience also include the areas of juvenile delinquency and sociology of the family. Before arriving at NMSU, she took a one year post-doctoral fellowship in Educational Policy Research at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA where she was involved in a diverse set of research projects on such topics as school finance, community effects on teen pregnancy rates, and predictors of teen smoking.

Current Research:
Dr. Way’s current research uses national survey data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationship between high school discipline and individual student academic achievement and behavior. In addition, she is involved in a project on post-secondary attrition and is developing a research agenda on the overlapping influence of school and neighborhood on adolescent outcomes.

Recent Publications:

  • Way, Sandra. "School Discipline." in Encyclopedia of Sociology edited by George Ritzer. Blackwell Press. 2006.
  • Arum, Richard and Sandra Way. “School-Community Relationships and the Early Labor Market Outcomes of Sub-Baccalaureate Students” in Family Background and Educational Success: After the Bell edited by Dalton Conley and Karen Albright. New York: Routledge. 2004.
  • Beattie, Irenee, Karen Christopher, Dina Okamoto, and Sandra Way, “Trying to Meet Someone, Anyone: Fleeting Relationships in Singles Clubs” in Personal Relationships in Public Contexts: Studies in Relational Ethnography edited by Calvin Morrill, David A. Snow and Cindy H. White. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 2004.
  • Arum, Richard with Irenee Beattie, Richard Pitt, Jennifer Thompson and Sandra Way. Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority in American Schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 2003.