Xiaowen Han - Assistant Professor

PhD, Sociology, University of Minnesota

Xiaowen Han is a sociologist studying how inequalities in work and employment accumulate over the life course and shape health and well-being. Her research addresses three key questions: What defines a good job beyond pay, and who has access to it? How do different dimensions of job quality, including monetary rewards, intrinsic rewards, and employment benefits, accumulate and interact over working lives to shape labor market inequalities? And how do these work experiences shape physical, mental, and cognitive health as people age? Drawing on longitudinal survey data and advanced quantitative methods, Xiaowen examines the long-term health consequences of intrinsic job quality, cumulative union coverage, and workplace discrimination, with particular attention to their timing across the life course. Ongoing research also investigates the social determinants of work beyond conventional retirement ages and its implications for healthy aging.