The Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics pleased to announce our CID Emerging Inequality Scholars for the 2025-2026 academic year. Congratulations to doctoral student in Sociology, Janet Wang, and doctoral student in Economics, Jiaming Soh.
Jiaming Soh: Government Contracts and Small Business Dynamics in the U.S.
Jiaming’s study examines the long-term effects of public procurement on small business dynamics in the United States. Given that government procurement accounts for a substantial share of public expenditure, analyzing its impact on small business development can offer insights into how procurement policy can be designed to redistribute economic opportunities and alleviate the financial and structural constraints commonly faced by small businesses.
“I applied for the award to be part of the scholarly community to further develop my existing work via engagement with scholars from various disciplines and intellectual backgrounds, as well as through the early ideas workshop that the CID frequently organized,” Jiaming said.
Janet Wang: Overqualification across the life course: patterns and consequences
Janet’s research interests lie in work and retirement, aging and the life course, and social stratification. Her research explores economic inequality and health disparities in later life.
“I applied to the CID emerging inequality scholar award because I was interested in the opportunity to conduct stratification research and engage with a vibrant intellectual community,” she said. “My proposed project, “Overqualification across the life course: patterns and consequences,” examines the dynamics of overqualification, broadly defined as a phenomenon in which a worker’s education exceeds their occupation’s educational requirements. I hope to broaden our understanding of this emergent form of labor market stratification by examining how overqualification develops across the career trajectory, and for whom it is a more persistent issue. I’m grateful to CID and excited to get to work!”
