Sociologist, Postdoctoral Scholar, Computational Social Scientist

About | Research | Teaching | Network Tutorials | CV | Visualising Grime

I study how social structures shape opportunity. My research examines how individuals navigate systems of inequality through their relationships, group memberships, and positions within broader social networks. I focus on domains such as family, sport, music, and education. These exemplify settings where material and symbolic resources are exchanged, and where access to those resources can shape outcomes like occupational attainment, educational pathways, and career performance. My work is driven by theory and supported by diverse methods. I have built expertise in social network analysis, statistical modeling and inference, machine learning, and text-based techniques. I work with both original and secondary data, and my research has led to a broad agenda and a growing network of collaborators.

A central thread in my work is the role of social capital: how ties to others can facilitate or constrain opportunity. I explore how group boundaries and institutional rules — including gender norms within families, status hierarchies in creative industries, and racialization in sport — shape access to resources. These flows are never neutral; they are conditioned by the social and cultural environments in which actors are embedded. Across projects, I aim to reveal how group dynamics and social ties reproduce or resist inequality. For example, in my recent article in Emerging Adulthood, I show how parenting norms can generate forms of social capital that support young people’s career development.

New to social network analysis? Or new to Data vis? Check out my coursebooks:

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• trleppar@ncsu.edu