Dr. Katherine Maich

Biography

Katherine Maich is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Texas A&M University. Her teaching and research interests encompass law, gender, labor informality, domestic work, and ethnography, particularly focused on the Global South. Her research examines the dynamics of inequality in the workplace and the extent to which external factors such as law, regulation, and policy can mitigate these dynamics and their consequences. She has received funding from organizations like the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the American Association of University Women. Her book, Bringing Law Home: Gender, Race, Household Labor Rights, is based on 24 months of ethnographic research in Lima, Peru and New York City, which included 120 in-depth interviews and legislative transcript analysis. The work provides a comparison between the Global South and North, centering on the home as a site of paid labor and exploring the social and symbolic boundaries involved, integrating feminist theory with discussions on race, gender, and labor legislation. Her current projects involve collaboration with the Economic Policy Institute and Oxfam America to investigate the effects of paid family leave on maternal mental health and the reproduction of gender and racial inequality among migrant workers in poultry and meatpacking industries. Previously, she worked as a consultant for the International Labour Organization and the International Domestic Worker Federation.

Research Interests

Awards