Sociology

Education

2012 Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy, Harvard University

Teaching Areas

Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility; Organizations, Occupations, and Work; Research Methods; Economic Sociology; Labor and Labor Movements

Research Interests

Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility; Organizations, Occupations, and Work; Economic Sociology; Labor and Labor Movements; Social Policy

Biography

Victor Tan Chen is an associate professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies economic inequality. Chen’s latest book is Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Based on his research on long-term unemployment in America and Canada, Cut Loose examines how recent changes in the economy and culture are affecting laid-off workers in the auto industry and elsewhere. It also looks at what we can do to improve the situation for those who have lost out in today’s new economy. For his work on Cut Loose, Chen received the 2017 John T. Dunlop Outstanding Scholar Award from the Labor and Employment Relations Association.

With Jesse Goldstein, professor Chen is currently working on a new book on entrepreneurship and its relationship to the labor market. You can read more about Victor on his personal website.

Selected Publications

Chen, Victor T. (2019). Meritocracy’s Casualties. Dissent Magazine

Chen, Victor T. (2018). Adulting While Poor. Dissent Magazine.

Chen, Victor T. (2018). “Beware of this misleading snapshot.” Newsday.

Chen, Victor T. (2015). Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Oakland: University of California Press.