Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Email: akuperbe@umbc.edu
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/arielletk/
Twitter: @atkuperberg
Topics of Expertise:
Marriage, Cohabitation & Committed Relationships / Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Division of Labor in Families / Economic Inequality / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / Parenthood: Motherhood/Fatherhood / Singles & Dating / Transitions: Adolescents to Adulthood / Work & Family
As a millennial generation sociologist, Professor Kuperberg’s research studies cutting edge topics related to social change in the family, gender and sexuality in her generation, such as ‘opting out’, cohabitation, college hookups, academic motherhood, and student loans.
Her research generally grapples with three interests: First, why don’t more women ‘have it all,’ meaning a highly successful career, a happy marriage with a spouse living in the same household, and children? Related to this, she has published journal articles examining occupational segregation, motherhood in academia, stay-at-home moms and dads, and the transition from cohabitation to traditional marriage, as explanations for the gender pay gap.
Second, she is interested in romantic and sexual relationships, who enters them, how they have changed over time, and how they affect behavior. She famously discovered that cohabitation does not cause divorce (but the younger ages of cohabitors increases their chance of divorce), and has written about the history of premarital cohabitation. She has also published several articles related to college hookups, dating, and romantic relationships, including articles on hookup risk-taking, motivations, which types of students are more likely to engage in which type of relationships, and same-sex hookups among college students identifying as heterosexual. Her research has also examined entrance into BDSM sexual activity, and Black women’s sexuality.
Finally, her ongoing research examines issues of student loan debt, family support in college, and transitions out of college and into young adulthood. Her research has examined the effect of student loan debt on family formation, mental health, and physical health; help to and from families in paying for college and help after graduation for students with and without loans; and how student parents pay for college. Related research has also examined which students were more likely to draw upon family support by moving home during the COVID pandemic.
Dr. Kuperberg’s research primarily uses analyses of large datasets and systematic content analysis of the media, and an economic sociological and feminist theoretical framework. She has also collected several original survey datasets, and has collaborated to write mixed-methods research. Her work has been published in leading sociology and interdisciplinary journals, including Social Forces, Socius, Journal of Marriage and Family, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Journal of Sex Research, and Gender & Society.
