Draft:Vincent Roscigno
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Vincent J. Roscigno is a sociologist and Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences in Sociology at The Ohio State University. He is known for his research on social inequality, workplace discrimination, the sociology of work and education, and collective behavior and social movements. He has published more than 100 academic articles and book chapters and is the author or co-author of two books, with a third forthcoming. Roscigno has served as Co-Editor of the American Sociological Review, as President of the Southern Sociological Society, and as an elected Council Member of the American Sociological Association.
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Vincent J. Roscigno | |
|---|---|
 Vincent J. Roscigno, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University. | |
| Occupation | Sociologist |
| Employer | Ohio State University |
| Known for | Workplace discrimination, social inequality, sociology of work, sociology of education |
| Title | Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences in Sociology |
| Awards | Distinguished University Scholar Award, Ohio State University (2012) W. Richard Scott Distinguished Article Award, ASA (2005) President, Southern Sociological Society (2010–2011) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Arizona (B.A., 1989) North Carolina State University (M.S., 1991; Ph.D., 1996) |
| Website | u |
Early life, education, and career
Roscigno was born in the Bronx, New York in 1966 to John Roscigno and Carolyn (Barresi) Roscigno. He spent most of his childhood between the Bronx and the town of Mahopac, New York. He is brother to Linda (Roscigno) Babadelis of Orlando, Florida and Conductor/Composer/Artist John Roscigno. Roscigno currently lives in Columbus, Ohio, is married to Susan (Harris) Roscigno, who is Co-Director of The School for Young Children, and has two adult children, Auden Roscigno and Saverio (Sam) Roscigno.[1]
Roscigno received his B.A. in Sociology from the University of Arizona in 1989. He then attended North Carolina State University, where he earned his M.S. in 1991 and his Ph.D. in 1996.[1] His doctoral training was in sociology and included early collaborative work with his Ph.D. advisor Donald Tomaskovic-Devey on racial economic inequality and voting polarization in the U.S. South.[2]
Following the completion of his doctorate, Roscigno joined the faculty of The Ohio State University in 1996 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2001, to full Professor in 2005, and was named Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences in Sociology in 2012.[1] He has remained at Ohio State throughout his career.[3]
From 2007 to 2009, Roscigno served as Co-Editor of the American Sociological Review—the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association—alongside the late sociologist Randy Hodson.[1] From 2013 to 2018, he was the founding Co-Editor (with Toni Calasanti of Virginia Tech) of Social Currents, the official journal of the Southern Sociological Society.[1] He has served on the editorial boards of Social Forces, Social Problems, Sociological Forum, Sociological Quarterly, and Socius, among others.[1]
Research
Roscigno's research addresses social inequality, with particular attention to the workplace, educational institutions, culture, and collective mobilization. His work draws on multiple methodological approaches, including quantitative analysis, qualitative methods, and historical research.[4] As of 2026, his publications have accumulated more than 14,000 citations.[5]
Workplace discrimination
A central strand of Roscigno's work examines how race, gender, and age discrimination operate within organizations and labor markets. His 2007 book The Face of Discrimination: How Race and Gender Impact Work and Home Lives (Rowman & Littlefield), which was undertaken with a group of Ohio State doctoral students, draws on archived discrimination complaints filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission to document the forms, processes, and daily consequences of race and sex discrimination in employment and housing.[6]
Subsequent articles have extended this research. Roscigno has examined the role of workplace power in shaping discrimination and sexual harassment,[7] documented the mental health consequences of age discrimination for workers over 40,[8] and analyzed how bureaucratic structures and legal loopholes shape the adjudication of discrimination claims.[9] His public writing on ageism in the American workplace, published in Contexts, the magazine of the American Sociological Association, has been widely cited in academic and policy discussions of age discrimination.[10]
With Reginald Byron of the University of Denver, Roscigno has a forthcoming book, Chains of Discrimination: How Organizational Norms, Toxic Cultures, and Legal Loopholes Matter for Race and Gender Inequality (Russell Sage Foundation, ASA Rose Series, 2026), which focuses on the structural and cultural foundations of discrimination within organizations.[11]
Labor movements, music, and culture
Roscigno's earlier research explored the intersection of culture, media, and labor mobilization in the American South. His 2004 book The Voice of Southern Labor: Radio, Music, and Textile Strikes, 1929–1934 (co-authored with William F. Danaher; University of Minnesota Press) examines how southern textile mill workers used radio broadcasts and music to build solidarity and sustain labor insurgency during the major strikes of 1929 and 1934.[12] The book was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and was reviewed in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, the International Review of Social History, Contemporary Sociology, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Labor Review.[13][14][15] Sociologist Richard Flacks described the book as "an instant classic in studies of the wellsprings of collective action."[16]
Power and organizational life
Roscigno has written extensively on the sociological concept of power as it operates within organizations and workplaces. His 2011 article "Power, Revisited," published in Social Forces and delivered as his Presidential Address to the Southern Sociological Society, offers a theoretical treatment of power that bridges structural and interactional perspectives.[17] His work with colleagues on bureaucratic rulebreaking and Kafkaesque organizational dynamics has appeared in journals such as the Academy of Management Review and Human Relations.[18]
Educational inequality
Roscigno has also contributed extensively to the sociology of education, examining how racial inequality, place, and resource disparities shape educational achievement and attainment. His research has addressed the black-white achievement gap, the role of place-based institutional resources, charter schools, and the effects of test preparation and shadow education on college enrollment.[19][20]
First-generation college students
More recently, Roscigno has led a large-scale, multi-method longitudinal study on first-generation college students at Ohio State University, examining the structural and social barriers they face in persisting, integrating into campus life, and achieving upward mobility. This work, conducted with Anne McDaniel and several former graduate students, has produced publications in Socius, Sociology of Education, Sociological Forum, and Contexts.[21][22] He also chaired the American Sociological Association's Task Force on First-Generation and Working Class Sociologists from 2018 to 2022, under which the task force conducted original research on inequalities experienced by first-generation faculty and graduate students in the discipline.[1]
Professional leadership and honors
Roscigno served as President of the Southern Sociological Society in 2010–2011, having served as President-Elect from 2009 to 2010.[1] He was elected to membership in the Sociological Research Association in 2004—an honor society for distinguished sociologists founded in 1936—and was elected to its Executive Committee in 2022; he is slated to serve as its President in 2027.[1][23]
He served as an elected Council Member of the American Sociological Association from 2019 to 2022 and served on the ASA Publications Committee from 2012 to 2015.[1] He has served on the Advisory Board of the General Social Survey since 2024.[1]
Among his major awards are the Distinguished University Scholar Award from Ohio State University (2012), the W. Richard Scott Distinguished Article Award from the ASA's Organizations, Occupations & Work Section (2005), the Joan Huber Faculty Fellow for Research Excellence (2007–2009), the Harlan Hatcher Arts & Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award (2020), the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching from Ohio State University (2023), and the Donald MacNamara Distinguished Article Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (2022).[1] He was also co-recipient of the Best Paper Award from the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Logic and Methodology (RC33) in 2025 for an article first authored by his colleague Michael Vuolo.[24]
Selected bibliography
Books
- Bryon, Reginald and Vincent J. Roscigno. Chains of Discrimination: How Organizational Norms, Toxic Cultures, and Legal Loopholes Matter for Race and Gender Inequality. New York: Russell Sage Foundation (ASA Rose Series), forthcoming 2026.
- Roscigno, Vincent J. The Face of Discrimination: How Race and Gender Impact Work and Home Lives. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
- Roscigno, Vincent J. and William F. Danaher. The Voice of Southern Labor: Radio, Music, and Textile Strikes, 1929–1934. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004.
Selected articles
- Roscigno, Vincent J., Jasmine Whiteside, Erick Axxe, Anne McDaniel, and Oded Mcdossi. "Being First-Generation." Contexts 24 (2025).
- Roscigno, Vincent J., Jill E. Yavorsky, and Natasha Quadlin. "Gendered Dignity at Work." American Journal of Sociology 127 (2021): 285–312.
- Roscigno, Vincent J., Carsten Sauer, and Peter Valet. "Rules, Relations and Work." American Journal of Sociology 123 (2018): 1784–1825.
- Roscigno, Vincent J. "Power, Revisited." Social Forces 90 (2011): 349–374.
- Restifo, Salvatore J., Vincent J. Roscigno, and Zhenchao Qian. "Segmented Assimilation, Split Labor Markets, and Racial/Ethnic Stratification." American Sociological Review 78 (2013): 897–924.
- Roscigno, Vincent J. and Randy Hodson. "The Organizational and Social Foundations of Worker Resistance." American Sociological Review 69 (2004): 14–39.
- Roscigno, Vincent J. and William F. Danaher. "Media and Mobilization: The Case of Radio and Southern Textile Worker Insurgency, 1929–1934." American Sociological Review 66 (2001): 21–48.