Rachel Donnelly
M.A., The University of Texas at Austin
PRC Graduate Student Trainee; NICHD Pre-Doctoral Trainee 2015-2017

Contact
- E-mail: redonnelly@utexas.edu
- Office: RLP 2.622A
- Campus Mail Code: G1800
Interests
Health and Health Disparities; Demography; Family
Biography
Rachel is a doctoral candidate in the department of Sociology and a graduate student trainee in the Population Research Center. Her reresearch focuses on the social determinants of mental and physical health, with an emphasis on stress/adversity, marital and family relationships, and life course processes. She also examines how gender, sexual orientation, and race shape disparities in health, including the processes contributing to health. Rachel's research takes a critical look at emerging macro-level trends (e.g., the rise in precarious employment) and social changes (e.g., same-sex marriage) to gain new understandings of the implications for health.
Rachel’s dissertation examines the consequences of precarious employment – work that is uncertain, unpredictable, and risky – for marriage and health in midlife. She has been awarded a Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation for this project.