Colloquium Series: Liana Richardson, UNC-CH

(En)gendering Racial Disparities in Health Trajectories: An Intersectional and Life Course Analysis

Abstract: Sociological research on racial/ethnic and gender inequality in health rarely employs an intersectionality perspective.  To demonstrate its utility and importance, I conduct an intersectional analysis of the social stratification of health using the exemplar of hypertension—a health condition in which racial/ethnic and gender differences have been well-documented.  Previous research has tended to examine these differences separately and ignore how the interaction of social status dimensions may influence health over time.  Using seven waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study and growth curve models, I find a multiplicative effect of race/ethnicity and gender on hypertension trajectories, consistent with both an intersectionality perspective and persistent inequality hypothesis.  I also find that this effect is not explained by group differences in past and contemporaneous socioeconomic and behavioral factors.