Department of Sociology

My research interests are in gender, work, family, occupations, and organizations. My major line of research investigates how the trend toward long work hours reinforces gender inequality, and what organizational and institutional conditions help to change this trend. My other research focuses on the effect of marriage and parenthood on the gender pay gap, the role of Asian stereotypes on the labor market outcomes for Asian-origin workers in the U.S., and ways in which anti-discrimination lawsuits can improve workplace diversity.

Selected Publications

Cha, Youngjoo, Kim A. Weeden, and Landon Schnabel. Forthcoming. “Is the Gender Wage Gap Really a Family Wage Gap in Disguise?” American Sociological Review.

Cha, Youngjoo and Seung-kyung Kim. 2023. Forthcoming (October 2023) “Gender Divide, Time Divide: Gender, Work and Family in South Korea.” Journal of Korean Studies.

Hirsh, C. Elizabeth, and Youngjoo Cha. 2018. “For Law and Markets: Discrimination Lawsuits, Market Performance, and Managerial Diversity.” American Journal of Sociology 123(4):1117-1160.

Cha, Youngjoo and Kim A. Weeden. 2014. “Overwork and the Slow Convergence in the Gender Gap in Wages.” American Sociological Review 79(3):457-484.

Cha, Youngjoo. 2010. “Reinforcing Separate Spheres: The Effect of Spousal Overwork on Men’s and Women’s Employment in Dual-Earner Households.” American Sociological Review 75(2):303-329.

Research in Progress

Cha, Youngjoo, Dongeun Shin, Kiho Sung, and Stephen Benard. "Technically Competent but Less Socially Skilled? Occupational Skills Associated with Asian Stereotypes and Asian-White Wage Differentials in the United States."

Cha Youngjoo, Kristin Kelley, and C. Elizabeth Hirsh. “Can We Change the Overwork Culture? The Role of Workplaces in Challenging Conventional Definitions of ‘Ideal Workers.’”

Cha, Youngjoo and Kaitlin Johnson. “Why Is the Gender Wage Gaps Larger in Some Occupations than Others? Work Hours, Task Flexibility, and the Gender Wage Gap Across Occupations.”

Cha, Youngjoo and Ekaterina Baldina. “Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed How We Define ‘Ideal Workers’?”

Cha, Youngjoo and Rebecca K. Grady. “Overwork and the Use of Paid Leave and Flexible Work Policies in the U.S. Workplaces.”

Jennifer J. Lee, Kristin Kelley, Cassie Mead, and Youngjoo Cha. “‘It’s just my personality.’ How employees understand why they work long work hours in a supportive workplace.”