Bridget Gorman is Dean of Undergraduates and Professor of Sociology at Rice.
She grew up in Washington State and received her B.A. from Western Washington University in 1994, followed by a PhD in sociology and demography from Pennsylvania State University in 2000. Bridget joined the Rice faculty in 2002 after completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Bridget has held a variety of leadership positions at Rice, including sociology department chair (2014-2018), Magister of Will Rice College (2011-2018), and Resident Associate of Jones College (2004-2008). She has served as Dean of Undergraduates since July of 2018.
As a sociologist and demographer, Bridget is interested in how social conditions and experiences shape group differences in health and well-being among children and adults. Her research examines health disparities based on racial/ethnic identity, nativity, gender identity, and sexual orientation (and their intersections), and focuses on how fundamental social causes (e.g., socioeconomic status, social integration and support) underlie and shape group differences in health outcomes. She has built a substantial body of research, with over 60 peer-reviewed articles published with collaborators and students in a variety of sociology, demography, and public health journals.
Bridget is also an acclaimed teacher, having won multiple awards for teaching, mentoring, and service to students since joining the Rice faculty – including the Presidential Mentoring Award, and the George R. Brown Award for Excellence in Teaching (the university’s top teaching prize).
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
* Rice undergraduate student co-author. Underline: graduate student co-author.
Zhang, Zhe, Yvone Chien*, Kiana Wilkins, Bridget K. Gorman, and Corinne Reczek. “Parenthood, Stress, and Wellbeing among Cisgender and Transgender Gay and Lesbian Adults.” Forthcoming at Journal of Marriage and Family.
Kim, Min Ju and Bridget K. Gorman. “Acculturation and Self-Rated Health among Asian Immigrants: The Role of Gender and Age.” Forthcoming at Population Research and Policy Review.
Chavez, Sergio, Claire E. Altman, and Bridget K. Gorman. “The Migration Decision Process among Returnees: Assessing the Risks and Benefits in Contemporary Mexico-US Migration.” Forthcoming at Migration Studies.
Brown, Tony N., Alexa Solazzo, and Bridget K. Gorman. 2021. “Yes We Can!” The Mental Health Significance for U.S. Black Adults of Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 7(1): 101-115.
Denney, Justin T., Zhe Zhang, Bridget K. Gorman, and Caleb Cooley. 2021. “Substance Use, Mental Well-Being, and Suicide Ideation by Sexual Orientation Among U.S. Adults.” Advances in Medical Sociology, edited by Allen J. LeBlanc and Brea L. Perry. Volume 21:39-63. Emerald Publishing.
Zhang, Zhe, Alexa Solazzo and Bridget K. Gorman. 2020. “Education and Health: The Joint Role of Gender and Sexual Identity.” Social Science & Medicine – Population Health. Volume 12.
Solazzo, Alexa, Bridget K. Gorman and Justin T. Denney. 2020. “Does Sexual Orientation Complicate the Relationship between Marital Status and Health?” Demography 57(2): 599-626.
Gorman, Bridget K., Claire E. Altman, Rudy Guerra, and Sergio Chavez. 2020. “Gender, Education, and Physical Health among Adults in Central Mexico.” Sociological Perspectives 63(2): 181-200.
Denney, Justin T., Jarron M. Saint Onge, Bridget K. Gorman, and Patrick M. Krueger. 2020. “Health and Health Behaviors among Same-Sex and Different-Sex Coupled Adults with and without Children.” Pp 73-87 in Marriage and Health: The Well-Being of Same-Sex Couples, edited by H. Liu, C. Reczek, and L. Wilkinson. Rutgers University Press.
Tuthill, Zelma Oyarvide, Bridget K Gorman, and Navya R. Kumar*. 2020. “Union Status and Overweight/Obesity among Sexual Minority Men and Women.” Pp 102-155 in Marriage and Health: The Well-Being of Same-Sex Couples, edited by H. Liu, C. Reczek, and L. Wilkinson. Rutgers University Press.
Tuthill, Zelma, Denney, Justin T., and Bridget K. Gorman. 2020. “Racial Disparities in Health and Health Behaviors among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Men and Women in the BRFSS-SOP.” Ethnicity & Health 25(2): 177-188.