Jun Zhao
Assistant Professor Sociology- Education
Ph.D., Sociology, University of Georgia, 2017
M.A., Sociology, University of Georgia, 2013
M.A., Sociology, San Yat-sen University, 2009
- Specializations
Social Psychology, Social Networks, Race and Gender, Health
- Biography
Jun Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Sociology. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Georgia in 2017. Prior to joining Georgia State University in 2019, she was a postdoctoral fellow with the Program of Quantitative Social Science at Dartmouth College.
Dr. Zhao's research is centered on social inequality and exclusion, with emphasis on networks, identity, and emotions. Her first area of interest examines how friendship networks impact adolescents’ development and transmission of depressive symptoms as well as academic functioning. Her second core interest focuses on the micro-foundation of social exclusion. Using survey experiments and computer simulations, Dr. Zhao studies how subtle interactional processes can lead to discriminatory behaviors and intergroup conflict.
Dr. Zhao's research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and research grants from both Georgia State University and the University of Georgia.