Sociologist Mary Blair-Loy studies gender, work and family, social inequalities, and STEM fields.

Mary Blair-Loy (she/her) is Professor of Sociology at UC San Diego. She uses multiple methods to study gender, work, and family, focusing on normative cultural understandings of a worthwhile life. These include the work devotion schema (which defines professional work as a calling that penalizes involved caregiving) and the schema of scientific excellence (which valorizes culturally masculine traits such as assertive self-promotion and displays of individual brilliance). Her books show that these cultural schemas are broadly embraced yet can be harmful for diverse professionals and for science. She also studies the gender glass ceiling in the U.S. and Norway.

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