PhD, Sociology, Stanford University, (expected: June 2009)
MA, Sociology, University of Notre Dame, 2000
MA, TESOL, Peking University, China, 1998
BA, English, Beijing Normal University, China, 1995

Research and Teaching Interests

Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Social Stratification and Inequality, Immigration, Asian America, Social Psychology, Research Methods

Publications

Ridgeway, Cecilia L., Kristen Backor, Yan E. Li, Justine E. Tinkler, and Kristan Erickson. "How Easily Does a Social Difference Become a Status Distinction? Gender Matters." (Conditional accept at American Sociological Review)

Tinkler, Justine, Yan E. Li, and Stefanie Mollborn [equal authorship]. 2007. "Can Legal Interventions Change Beliefs? The Effect of Exposure to Sexual Harassment Policies on Men's Gender Beliefs." Social Psychology Quarterly 70(4):480-494.

[ Abstract | Full text PDF (through IngentaConnect) ]

In spite of the relative success of equal opportunity laws on women's status in the workplace, we know little about the influence of such legal interventions on people's attitudes and beliefs. This paper focuses, in particular, on how sexual harassment policy affects men's beliefs about the gender hierarchy. We employ an experimental design in which we measure the effect of a policy intervention on men's explicit and implicit gender beliefs. Results show that the sexual harassment policy did not alter explicit gender beliefs. Explicit beliefs changed in a different way, however. Compared to the baseline condition, participants in the policy intervention condition believed that most people think both men and women are lower-status, less competent, and less considerate. The policy intervention also affected implicit gender beliefs. Participants in the policy condition displayed more entrenched male-advantaged gender beliefs compared to the baseline condition. We interpret this as evidence that sexual harassment policies may have the unintended effect of activating unequal gender beliefs, which run contrary to the policy's equalizing aims. This research also suggests the value of measuring both explicit and implicit gender beliefs.

Li, Yan. 2005. Review of Mobilizing an Asian American Community, by Linda Trinh Vo. Mobilization 10(2):316-317.

Papers in Progress

Li, Yan E. "Ambivalent Interracial Stereotyping: Evidence from the Los Angeles Study of Urban Inequality." (R&R at Social Psychology Quarterly)

Myers, Daniel J. and Yan E. Li. "City Conditions and Riot Susceptibility Reconsidered." (advanced manuscript)

Li, Yan E. "Status Homogamy in Contemporary Urban China." (advanced manuscript)