Erin Cech

Dr. Erin Cech (she/her) is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Mechanical Engineering (by courtesy) at the University of Michigan. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from UC San Diego, undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Sociology from Montana State University. Cech’s research examines cultural mechanisms of inequality reproduction in the workforce broadly and STEM fields specifically. Her work is funded by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation and has appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science Advances, and the American Sociological Review. It has been covered by The New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, and the news sections of Science and Nature. Cech is the author of two recent books: The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality (2021) and Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering (with M. Blair-Loy; 2022). In 2020, she was named one of Business Equality Magazine’s “40 LGBTQ+ Leaders Under 40.”