Research

My research combines the sociology of education and urban sociology to study the roots of educational inequality and examine the dynamic connections between communities and schools that shape opportunities to learn both in and out of the classroom.  A few recent publications are listed below.

A complete list can be found in my CV.

Selected Publications:

Burdick-Will, Julia, and Marc L. Stein. 2025. “Transit Trade-offs: Transportation Difficulty, Schedule Variation, and School Preferences.” Social Science Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103160.

Burdick-Will, Julia, and Marc L. Stein. 2024. “Running Late: Student Commutes and High School Tardiness in Baltimore City.” Educational Researcher 53(7): 412-419.

Burdick-Will, Julia, Leela Gebo, and Alexandra D. Williams. 2024. “Anywhere but Here: Neighborhood Violence and Local School Preferences in Baltimore City.” Sociology of Education 97(1): 1-20.

Burdick-Will, Julia, Kiara M. Nerenberg, Jeffrey A. Grigg, and Faith Connolly. 2021. “Student Mobility and Violent Crime Exposure at Baltimore City Public Schools.” American Educational Research Journal. 58(3): 602-634.

Stein, Marc L., Julia Burdick-Will, and Jeffrey Grigg. 2021. “A Choice Too Far: Transit Difficulty and Early High School Transfer.” Educational Researcher 50(3): 137-144.

Burdick-Will, Julia, Jeffrey A. Grigg, Kiara M. Nerenberg, and Faith Connolly. 2020. “Socially-Structured Mobility Networks and School Segregation Dynamics: The Role of Emergent Consideration Sets.” American Sociological Review 85(4).

Burdick-Will, Julia, Marc L. Stein, and Jeffrey Grigg. 2019. “Danger on the Way to School: Exposure to Violent Crime, Public Transportation, and Absenteeism.” Sociological Science 6(1): 118-142.

Burdick-Will, Julia. 2018. “Neighborhood Violence, Peer-Effects, and Academic Achievement in Chicago.” Sociology of Education 91(3).

Burdick-Will, Julia. 2018. “School Location, Social Ties, and Neighborhood Perception.” City & Community 17(2).

Burdick-Will, Julia. 2017. “Neighbors, But Not Classmates: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Local Violent Crime, and the Heterogeneity of Educational Experiences in Chicago.” American Journal of Education 124(1).

Burdick-Will, Julia. 2016. “Neighborhood Violent Crime and Academic Growth in Chicago: Lasting Effects of Early Exposure.” Social Forces 95(1): 133-157.

Burdick-Will, Julia. 2013. “School Violent Crime and Academic Achievement in Chicago.” Sociology of Education 86(4).