USC.edu

Jody Agius Vallejo

Professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity
Jody Agius Vallejo
Pronouns She / Her / Hers Email vallejoj@usc.edu Office KAP 364C Office Phone (213) 740-5047

Research & Practice Areas

immigrant integration, race/ethnicity, minoritized middle classes, minoritized entrepreneurs, wealth attainment

Center, Institute & Lab Affiliations

  • USC Center for Latinx and Latin American Studies, Advisory Board
  • USC Equity Research Institute, Associate Director

Video

Biography

Jody Agius Vallejo is Associate Professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity and Director of Gradaute Studies. She is also Associate Director of USC Equity Research Institute and past-Chair of the International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association. She also co-edits the USC Equity Research Institute Blog. 

Jody Agius Vallejo specializes in immigrant integration and mobility, the minoritized middle and upper classes, and racial/ethnic inequality in the United States. She is centrally interested in two broad questions: (1) what are the mechanisms that propel immigrants and their descendants into the middle and upper echelons of the class structure and (2) what processes shape their integration pathways? Central to these questions is a motivation to originate new ways of understanding immigrants and their descendants’ mobility trajectories and experiences by “studying up.” The tradition in sociology has been to study poverty, inequality, and mobility from below, by focusing on the lower class. However, by studying up–studying the middle and upper classes–and using multiple methods to focus on ignored and understudied segments within groups–her research challenges and improves existing theories of immigrant integration, race/ethnicity, and economic sociology.

Her book, “Barrios to Burbs: The Making of the Mexican-American Middle Class,” (Stanford University Press 2012) examines patterns of mobility and socioeconomic incorporation among the Mexican-origin middle class in Southern California.

Her newest project establishes a new line of research as it is the first study of Latino elites. Her book, The Latino Elite: Entrepreneurship, Community, and Mobility (under contract with University of California Press), is a study of middle-class and professional Latino entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. Building on theories of ethnic entrepreneurship, assimilation, racial/ethnic identification, and civic engagement, this research uses in-depth interviews, ethnography, and statistics to investigate the rise of Latino business owners in the formal economy, the institutions that support them, their patterns of ethnic philanthropy, the factors that shape their racial/ethnic identification, and the challenges and successes they experience as formal-sector entrepreneurs. This research has been published in Social Problems, Ethnic and Racial Studies, American Behavioral Scientist, Compare, and Gender, Work, and Organization. 

In collaborative work with Lisa Keister (Duke University), Vallejo and Keister expand the field’s empirical and theoretical understanding of wealth–both individual and familial–as a mechanism for immigrant integration. This NSF funded study relies on mixed methods including extensive quantitative analysis of large data sets and an ethnographic study of Chinese American business owners in Southern California. This research has been published in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Social Forces, and Plos One.

Agius Vallejo’s research has been funded by The National Science Foundation, The American Association of University Women, The Lusk Center for Real Estate, the American Sociological Association and National Science Foundation Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline, the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation, the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research, and the USC Office of the Provost. She has held an American fellowship from the American Association of University Women and also a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego.

In 2023, she received the Award for Public Sociology in International Migration from the ASA Section on International Migration. Also in 2023, she, along with co-author Stephanie Canizales, received the 2023 Oliver Cromwell Cox Article Award from the ASA Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities for their paper, “Ethnoracial Capitalism and the Limits of Ethnic Solidarity,” published in Social Problems. She has received two USC Provost Mentoring Awards for mentoring graduate (2022) and undergraduate students (2010), as well as the USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Junior Faculty Award for Research, Teaching, and Service (2012). 

Education

  • Ph.D. Sociology, University of California, Irvine, 2008
  • M.A. Sociology, University of California, Irvine, 2006
  • M.A. Demographic and Social Analysis, University of California, Irvine, 2003
    • Visiting Research Fellow, Joint with The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego, 2008-2009

  • Research Keywords

    immigrant integration, race/ethnicity, middle-class minoritized communities, minoritized entrepreneurs, wealth accumulation

    Research Specialties

    immigrant integration, race/ethnicity, minoritized middle classes, minoritized entrepreneurs, wealth attainment

  • Contracts and Grants Awarded

    • Latino Elites in Los Angeles, (John and Dora Haynes Foundation), Jody Agius Vallejo, $12,500, 2018-2019
    • Ethnic Philanthropy as a Non-Traditional Safety Net Mechanism, (UC Davis Center for Poverty Research), Jody Agius Vallejo, $25,000, 2015-2016
    • Collaborative Research: Heterogeneity and Adaptation in American Wealth, (National Science Foundation), Jody Agius Vallejo, Lisa Keister, $315,000, 2013-2014
    • How do Latino-Owned Banks and Elite Latino Entrepreneurs Facilitate Economic Development in Los Ange, (Lusk Center for Real Estate), Jody Agius Vallejo, $25,000, 2013-2014
    • Class and Assimilation Among Latino Entrepreneurs in the Formal Economy, (ASA/NSF: Fund for Advancement of the Discipline), Jody Agius Vallejo, $6,900, 07/01/2011 – 07/01/2013
    • Brown Picket Fences, (American Fellow Association of University Women), Jody Agius Vallejo, $6,000, 2011-2012
    • Immigration and Trajectories to the Middle Class, (National Science Foundation Dissertation Grant), Jody Agius Vallejo, $7,004, 2006-2007

    USC Funding

    • Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences Initiative. Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation Among Los Angeles’ Latino Middle Class: 1, $25000, 2010-2011

  • Conference Presentations

    • Precarity Ripples: Legal Status, Economic Mobility, and Well-being Within and Across Generations , Pennsylvania State University’s 31st National Symposium on Family Issues: Immigration Policy and ImmLecture/Seminar, Invited, Pennsylvania State University , Fall 2023
    • Equity and Prosperity in the Golden State Talk/Oral Presentation, Invited, Hispanas Organizing for Political Equity (HOPE) Los Angeles, Spring 2023
    • The Future of Latinos in the United States: Law, Opportunity, and Mobility Talk/Oral Presentation, Invited, University of California, Irvine , Fall 2022
    • Latino Elites and Ethnoracial Mainstreaming. Lecture/Seminar, Invited, University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2022
    • Latino Upward Mobility Talk/Oral Presentation, Invited, Temple University, Spring 2022
    • Middle-and Upper-Class Latino Entrepreneurs Lecture/Seminar, Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship , Invited, Brown University , Spring 2021
    • Global Migration Impact and Opportunity , Eisenhower Fellowships ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Invited, London, England, Fall 2019
    • “Immigration, Social Mobility, and The New Demographics.” , Young Leaders Conferences, The Council for the United States and Italy, Trieste, ItalyKeynote Lecture, Invited, Trieste, Italy, Fall 2012
    • Leveling the Playing Field: Patterns of Ethnic Philanthropy Among Middle-and-Upper-Class Latino Entrepreneurs , Immigration and Entrepreneurship Conference Talk/Oral Presentation, Center for the History of a New America, Invited, University of Maryland, Fall 2012
    • Panelist: Where Do I Go From Here? Using Your MA and PhD in Sociology , Annual Meeting of the Pacific Sociological AssociationRoundtable/Panel, Invited, Oakland, California, Spring 2010
    • Panelist: Navigating the Academic Job Market , American Sociological Association International Migration Section, Immigration Mini-ConferenceRoundtable/Panel, Invited, University of California, Berkeley, 08/2009
    • The Salience of Race and Gender for Middle-Class Latinas. , Annual Meeting of the American Sociological AssociationTalk/Oral Presentation, Boston, Massachusetts, 08/2008
    • Latina Spaces: Middle-Class Ethnic Capital and Professional Associations in the Latino Community , The Nagoya American Studies Summer Seminar, Nagoya, JapanTalk/Oral Presentation, Invited, Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan, 07/2008
    • Middle-Class Latinas in Southern California: Trends, Stereotypes and Reality , California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 28th Annual Convention, Latina Power Luncheon Talk/Oral Presentation, Invited, 08/2007

    Other Presentations

    • Past, Present, and Future: Immigration in Los Angeles., Testimony for Public Hearing, California Senate Select Committee on the Social Determinants of Children’s Well-Being, , 2019-2020
    • The Latino Elite, UC Irvine DASA, , 2019-2020
    • Aren’t We American? Race, Class, Immigration and Citizenship, LA Times Festival of Books, USC, 2018-2019
    • Elite Latino Entrepreneurs and Ethnic Solidarity, Stanford University Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, , 2016-2017
    • Ethnic Philanthropy as a Social Safety Net Mechanism, University of California, Davis, , 2016-2017
    • The Great Recession and Wealth Accumulation Among Middle Class Mexican Americans , Immigration in the Wake of the Great Recession, USC, 2011-2012

  • Book

    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2015). Immigration and Work: Research in the Sociology of Work. (Vol. 26, (Jody Agius Vallejo, Ed.). Emerald Group Publishing.
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2012). Barrios to Burbs: The Making of the Mexican-American Middle Class http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=21566. Stanford University Press.

    Book Chapters

    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2020). The Economic Contributions of Latino Entrepreneurs. Advancing Latino Entrepreneurship pp. Edited by Marlene Orozco, Alfonso Morales, Michael. Purdue University Press.

    Encyclopedia Article

    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2017). The Latino Middle Class. Oxford Bibliographies.
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2011). “Migration and Intolerance” in The Encyclopedia of Global Migration. Wiley Blackwell.

    Journal Article

    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2024). The Latino Middle Class. Annual Review of Sociology.
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2023). Feminist Ethnoracial Entrepreneurship Among Latina Elite and Middle-Class Entrepreneurs. Gender, Work, and Organization.
    • Agius Vallejo, J., Ramirez, B. (2023). A Distinct Mobility and Integration Path? Latino Economic Elites in Los Angeles Growing the Latino Middle Class. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education..
    • Agius Vallejo, J., Canizales, S. (2021). Ethnoracial Capitalism and the Limits of Ethnic Solidarity. Social Problems.
    • Canizales, S., Vallejo, J. (2021). Latinos and Racism in the Trump Era. Daedalus. Vol. 150 (2) Link to Article
    • Keister, L. (2019). Investing in the Homeland: Cross-Border Investments and Immigrant Wealth in the U.S. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
    • Agius Vallejo, J., Keister, L. (2019). Immigrants and Wealth Attainment: Migration, Inequality, and Integration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
    • Agius Vallejo, J., Canizales, S. (2016). Latino/a Professionals as Entrepreneurs: How Race, Class, and Gender Shape Entrepreneurial Incorporation. Ethnic and Racial Studies. Vol. 39 (9), pp. 1637-1656. Link to article
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2016). The Mexican-American Middle Class: How Heterogeneity in Class Background Affects Integration. Journal of Cultural Marketing Strategy. Vol. 2 (1), pp. 59-69.
    • Keister, L., Agius Vallejo, J., Aronson, B. (2016). Chinese Immigrant Net Worth: Heterogeneity in Adaptation. PLOS ONE. Vol. 11 (12) Link to article
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2015). How Class Background Affects Mexican Americans’ Experiences of Subtle Racism in the White Collar Workplace. Latino Studies.
    • Keister, L., Vallejo, J., Borelli, P. (2015). Mexican American Mobility: Early Life Processes and Adult Wealth Ownership. Social Forces.
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2015). Silva Letters and the Mexican American Middle Class. Contexts.
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2013). Leveling the Playing Field: Patterns of Ethnic Philanthropy Among Los Angeles’ Middle and Upper-Class Latino Entrepreneurs. Ethnic and Racial Studies. Vol. Forthcoming
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2012). Socially Mobile Mexican Americans and the Minority Culture of Mobility. American Behavioral Scientist. Vol. 56, pp. 666-681.
    • Emeka, A., Agius Vallejo, J. (2011). Non-Latino Identification among Latino Descendents: Assimilation or Racialization. Social Science Research.
    • Agius Vallejo, J. (2009). Latina Spaces: Middle-Class Ethnic Capital and Professional Associations in the Latino Community. City & Community. Vol. 8 (2), pp. 129-154.
    • Agius Vallejo, J., Lee, J. (2009). Brown Picket Fences: The Immigrant Narrative and Patterns of Giving Back among the Mexican Origin Middle-Class in Los Angeles. Ethnicities. Vol. 9 (1), pp. 5-23.
    • Zhou, M., Lee, J., Agius Vallejo, J., Tafoya-Estrada, R., Xion, Y. (2008). Success Attained, Deterred, and Denied: Divergent Pathways to Social Mobility in Los Angeles’ New Second Generation. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 620 (1), pp. 37-61.
    • Agius, J., Lee, J. (2006). Raising the Status of the Cashier: Latina-White Relations in an Ethnic Market. Sociological Forum. Vol. 21 (2), pp. 197-218.

    Research Report

    • USC Politics and Society: Web, Obama and Immigrants.” Politics and Society, USC, http://politicsandsociety.usc.edu/2010/02/obama-immigration.html, Spring 2010
    • Op-ed – Print, Citizenship Path Key to U.S. Economy. Politico, Vol. 4 NO 75., 05/28/2010 – 05/2010
    • “How Watts Provided a Foundation for a Family’s Rise in America.” July 8. Zocalo Public Square. , Spring 2016
    • “Latino Political Pulse: How Hispanics Have Changed California Politics.” NBC.com. June 7. , Spring 2016
    • “The effect racist rhetoric has on young Latinos, and why all Americans should care.” The Conversation. April 26. , Spring 2017
    • 2018. “The New Executive Order is No Solution.” Blanca Ramirez, Jody Agius Vallejo, and Eliane Fersan. CSII Immigrant Integration Wire. , Spring 2018
    • 2017. “Latino Elites are Paying the California Dream Forward.” The Conversation November 6, Fall 2017
    • “Three Reasons to Protect DACA.” Karina Santellano and Jody Agius Vallejo. CSII Immigrant Integration Wire. , Fall 2017
    • 2020. Universities Should Take Up the Fight for Immigration Reform. LA Daily News, June 26, With Manuel Pastor., Spring 2020
    • Award for Public Sociology in International Migration, ASA Section on International Migration , 2023-2024
    • Oliver Cromwell Cox Article Award, ASA Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities, 2022-2023
    • USC PhD Achievement Mentoring Award (PhD student Blanca Ramirez), 2022-2023
    • USC Provost’s Mentoring Award for Faculty Mentoring Graduate Students , 2022-2023
    • Dornsife Faculty Council Award for Distinguished Service, 2021-2022
    • USC Community Service Award, USC Community Achievement Award, awarded by the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly, the International Student Assembly, the Queer and Ally Student Assembly, 2018-2019
    • Top 50 graduate and postdoctoral scholar alumni, University of California, Irvine, 2016-2017
    • USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, 2012-2013
    • USC Mellon Mentoring Award, 2011-2012
    • American Fellowship, American Association of University Women, 07/01/2011 – 06/01/2012
    • Named one of OC Metro Magazine’s 20 Women to Watch in 2012, Spring 2012
    • USC Parents Association Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award, Honorable Mention, 2009-2010
    • Distinguished Student Scholarship Award, International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association, 2008-2009
    • Haynes Foundation Fellowship, 2008-2009

  • Administrative Appointments

    • Associate Director, 08/16/2019 – 08/15/2022
    • Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Sociology, 2020-2021
    • Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Sociology, 2019-2020
    • Associate Director, 08/16/2016 – 08/15/2019

    Committees

    • Member, Advanced PhD Fellowship Task Force, 2020-2021
    • Member, Visions and Voices Faculty Committee, 2020-2021
    • Co-Chair, Search Committee, Turpanjian Chair in Contemporary Armenian Studies, Spring 2021
    • Member, Visions and Voices Faculty Committee, 2019-2020
    • Member, Search Committee, Latin American and Latinx Studies, 2019-2020
    • Member, Search Committee, Turpanjian Chair in Contemporary Armenian Studies, 2019-2020
    • Member, Provost’s Advisory Task Force on Immigration Issues, 2018-2019
    • Search Committee, Turpanjian Postdoctoral Fellowship, Spring 2019
    • Member, Provost’s Advisory Task Force on Immigration Issues, 2017-2018
    • Member, Visions and Voices Faculty Committee, 2017-2018
    • Member, Search Committee, Turpanjian Chair in Contemporary Armenian Studies, 2017-2018
    • Member, Provost’s Diversity and Inclusion Grant Reviewer, Spring 2018
    • Member, Dornsife College GE Committee, 2016-2017

    Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

    • Despite a Growing Latino Middle Class, Many California Families Face Hurdles Getting there.” SCPR.org, Fall 2019
    • “A Growing Latino Middle Class: One California Family’s Journey From Have-Not to Have.” SCPR.org, July, Fall 2019
    • “American Let’s Too Much Young Talent Go to Waste.” Bloomberg, February 6. , Spring 2019
    • “The Lemongrass Burrito is the New America.” CNN, March 6., Fall 2018
    • “This Group is Getting Ahead in America.” CNN Business, January 22, 2018., Spring 2018
    • https://www.npr.org/2017/12/20/571994607/latino-identity-fades-as-immigrant-ties-weaken-study-finds, Fall 2017
    • 2016. “What Happened in the Election?” OC Speakly, OC Weekly Podcast, Fall 2016
    • 2013. How a Parent’s Immigration Status Shapes the Economic Lives Their Children, 89.3 KPCC (NPR Affiliate), (May), Fall 2013
    • Marketplace. NPR. Undocumented Immigrants and Credit (March), Fall 2013
    • “For Many Latinos, Racial Identity is More Culture Than Color,” The New York Times: January 13, 2012, http://tinyurl.com/74uzdtf, Spring 2012
    • “A Latino Identity Crises,” Esther Cepeda’s Nationally Syndicated Column, January 18, 2012, Spring 2012
    • Featured on the cover of OC Metro Magazine’s issue of the ’20 Women to Watch.’ , Spring 2012
    • “Why Children of Immigrants Pitch in Even if it Hurts Their Wallets.”August 8, KPCC’s MultiAmerican , Fall 2011
    • “How Immigrant Families Become Middle Class and What Gets in the Way. August, KPCC’s MultiAmerican , Fall 2011
    • “El 37.6% de la población de California es latino.” Vivelo Hoy, March 11, Spring 2011
    • Quoted for “Dora the Explorer: A Real Superstar,’ August, LA Times, Fall 2010
    • “L.A. Needs a Healthy Latino Middle Class,” by Hector Tobar. The Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2010. , Spring 2010
    • Cover Story: Invest Globally, Advise Locally, Investment Advisor Magazine, February 2010, Spring 2010
    • Interview, “Cuando Crezca la Nuevo Generatión.” June, 8, BBC Mundo, Spring 2010
    • Interview, “Hispanics in the U.S.: A New Generation.” June, 8, BBC World News, Spring 2010
    • “Middle-Class Latinas and the Gabachos Who Won’t Believe in Them,” by Gustavo Arellano, OC Weekly, Wednesday, October 7, 2009, Fall 2009
    • OC Metro Magazine, Feature Article. “The Culture Ceiling” , Fall 2007
    • Orange County Register, “Programming the Latina Network.”, Fall 2005

  • Committees

    • Co-Chair, Local Organizing Committee, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2021-2022
    • Chair, Chair, Thomas & Znaniecki Book Award Committee, International Migration Section ASA, Spring 2018
    • Program Committee – Pacific Sociological Association, 2016-2017
    • Chair, Louis Wirth Best Article Award Committee, International Migration Section ASA, Spring 2017
    • Member, Best Book Award Committee, Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Section, ASA, Spring 2017
    • Member, Oliver Cromwell Cox Article Award Committee, Spring 2012

    Conferences Organized

    • Organizer, International Migration Section Roundtables , American Sociological Association, Fall 2016
    • Organizing Committee, Immigration Mini-Conference, International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association, Univeristy of California, Berkeley, 08/2009 – 08/2010

    Editorships and Editorial Boards

    • Editoral Board, Social Forces, 2017 – 2020
    • Editorial Board, American Sociological Review, 2016 – 2019
    • Editorial Board, Contexts, 2015 – 2017

    Professional Offices

    • Chair-Elect, International Migration Section, American Sociological Association , 2023-2024
    • Co-Chair, Local Organizing Committee, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, American Sociological Association , 2021-2022
    • Co-Chair, Local Organizing Committee, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, American Sociological Association , 2021-2022
    • Advisory Committee, Donors of Color Project, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Indiana University, 2020-2021
    • Council Member (elected), ASA Section on International Migration, 2016 – 2019

    Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

    • The Brand and Martinez Show, 89.3 KPCC (NPR Affiliate), September 10, 2012 http://tinyurl.com/dxgmoyd, Fall 2012
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