Dr. Layne Amerikaner is a 2025 graduate of the PhD program in the Department of Sociology, where she was the recipient of the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship, the Harriet B. Presser Fellowship, and the Robert W. Janes Award. She currently works for AARP and will serve as a 2026 Early Career Fellow with the Work and Family Researchers Network. We asked her to share her research and how the skills she developed are informing her career.
Can you give an overview of the dissertation research you conducted while at UMD?
My dissertation used qualitative and quantitative methods to study how LGBTQ+ adults have experienced and responded to work inequality during unsettled times, including the COVID pandemic. As our policy and social landscape in the U.S. changes, I believe this kind of research matters—both for impacted communities and for sociological research about work, gender, and sexuality. I aimed to document disparities (the “what”) and explore drivers of those disparities (the “how” and “why”).
What sort of data did you draw on to assess those disparities in work experiences for LGBTQ+ adults?
I conducted statistical analysis of a nationally-representative CDC data source, the National Health Interview Survey, and found that sexual minority workers are more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to experience adverse job quality conditions like too much time pressure and too little supervisor support. For example, sexual minority workers more often disagree they have enough supervisor support, as this data visualization shows.
You mentioned the drivers of these disparities - what did you learn about those?
To explore the “how” and “why,” I interviewed a diverse group of LGBTQ+ adults about their work experiences. Analysis of these interviews showed LGBTQ+ workers emphasized both conventional job quality factors (like pay and benefits) as well as unique job quality factors (like misgendering, exclusion, and safety concerns) as shaping perceptions of what makes a “good” or “bad” job. Power-laden, relationship-focused aspects of work experiences were central to participants’ perceptions of job quality. The research findings advance sociological understandings of job quality and inform the work of policymakers, organizations, and communities by documenting unique job concerns for LGBTQ+ workers.
What are you currently doing, and how is it informed by your research and training in the program?
I am a Research Analyst at AARP, a contract I started soon after I graduated from the doctoral program in August 2025. The training and experience on research teams I got during the doctoral program informs my applied research work every day; I absolutely could not do my job without it. In the first few months of my job, I have been called on to code qualitative interviews, conduct statistical analysis of survey data, develop an original survey instrument, and draft reports for publication as well as an abstract for an academic conference. As just one example, an article co-authored by Stanley Presser on question and questionnaire design helped guide my work developing an AARP survey instrument. One of my favorite aspects of the position is being able to connect my current research topics, like grandparenting, family caregiving, and cross-generational financial education, to my content area specialization in Gender, Work, and Family. In the upcoming year I’m excited to continue to learn about—and contribute to—this subfield as a 2026 Early Career Fellow with the Work and Family Researchers Network.
