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Sharon Bird, Ph.D.

Professor and Director of Women's and Gender Studies and Professor of Sociology

Curriculum Vitae

Sharon R. Bird is Professor of Sociology and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. She also serves as the Director of WGST.  Dr. Bird received her PhD in Sociology from Washington State University. She has previously served as Professor and Head of Sociology at Oklahoma State University (2015-2019); as Program Director for the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program and the Alliances for Graduate Education for the Professoriate program (2016-2017); and prior to that as Professor of Sociology at Iowa State University, where she was the Research Director of the ISU ADVANCE program (2007-2015). In 2016, she received the Lessen Prize for Research on Teaching and Learning from the American Association of Philosophy Teachers. Her research and teaching interests include gender theory, social inequality (race/class/gender), work and organizations, race and ethnic relations, enhancing diversity in higher education, sociological and gender theory, and research and evaluation methods. Her recent publications focus on systemic equity enhancement in institutions of higher education, and on how sustainable equity enhancement strategies can be developed and scaled-up across multiple institutions of higher education.

Recent funded project:

National Science Foundation, EHR Directorate/HRD Division, AGEP Program. “AGEP EAGER: Exploring Conditions for Systemic Equity Transformation that Advance women and Minority STEM Faculty.” Kasi Jackson (PI) and Sharon R. Bird (Co-PI), West Virginia University, $295,639 (September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2021).

Recent publications:

Bird, Sharon R. and Melissa Latimer. 2019. "Examining Models of Departmental Engagement for Greater Equity:  A Case Study of Two Applications of the Dual Agenda Approach" Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. 38(2): 211-225.  

 DeAro, Jessi, Sharon R. Bird, and Shermaine Ryan 2019. “NSF ADVANCE: Past, Present and Future.” Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal 38(2):131-139.