Peggy Sue Carris

Peggy Sue Carris is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology Department at Texas A&M University. Her interests include the sociology of education, race and ethnicity, first-generation college students, and Latine sociology. She received her B.S. in Sociology from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, with a concentration in Diversity and Social Justice, and her A.A. in General Studies from St. Louis Community College.

Her current dissertation project examines the sense of belonging among first-generation college students. She uses the nationally representative 2012/2017 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study to explore how the type of institution students attend affects their experiences and academic success, especially in relation to their intersectional identities. She received the 2024 Future Faculty Fellowship from the Graduate and Professional School at Texas A&M University to complete her dissertation, “A Fish Out of Water: The Sense of Belonging Among First-Generation College Students.”

Peggy Sue Carris recently published an article in Sociology of Race and Ethnicity titled “Reading, Writing, and Harassment: White and Latinx Achievement Gaps and the U.S.-Mexico Border.” In this study, she uses the 2018 Stanford Education Data Archive to examine math and reading test score disparities between 3rd through 8th grade Latine and white students in border and interior school districts. Findings reveal that test score disparities widen with proximity to the Border, highlighting how racism and immigration policies impact Latine student educational outcomes.