Bridget K. Gorman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Undergraduate Advisor

Department of Sociology, MS-28
Rice University
6100 S. Main Street
Houston, TX 77005-1892

Office: SH 550A
Tel. (713)348-4137
Fax (713)348-5296
Email:

Curriculum Vitae: PDF

Courses:
Fall 2008:  SOCI 355: Sociology of Drugs & Alcohol
Spring 2009:  SOCI 301: Research Methods

Areas of Interest

  • Racial and ethnic disparities in physical health and health care.

  • Gender differences in mental and physical health.

Biography

Bridget Gorman (Ph.D., Sociology and Demography, 2000, Pennsylvania State University) is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Rice University. Her areas of specialization include demography, mortality and morbidity, and family.  Dr. Gorman’s main research agenda is focused on understanding racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in both physical and mental health.  Beginning with her work on the Puerto Rican Maternal and Infant Health Study (PRMIHS) while at Penn State, a substantial portion of her research has been focused on explaining racial and ethnic differences in health.  She is currently working on research papers that examine racial/ethnic disparities in adult hypertension, asthma, and self-rated health.  Understanding gender disparities in mental and physical health is another foci of Bridget’s research agenda, as she has published several papers that explore gender differences in morbidity among adults.  She is currently working on projects that examine how job characteristics differentially impact the mental and physical health of male and female workers; how the connection between mental and physical health differs for men and women; and how gender shapes the Mexican American immigrant health paradox.  Dr. Gorman’s research also examines other factors related to health (e.g., immigrant status, socioeconomic status, family relationships and social support), which you can read about on her curriculum vitae. 

Dr. Gorman is also an acclaimed teacher, having won three awards for teaching, one award for mentoring, and one award for service to the undergraduate student body since starting at Rice University in the fall of 2002.

Recent Publications

  • Read, Jen’nan G. and Bridget K. Gorman.  Forthcoming.  “Gender and Health Revisited.”  In The Handbook of Health, Illness & Healing: Blueprint for the 21st Century, edited by Bernice A. Pescosolido, Jack K. Martin, Jane McLeod, and Anne Rogers.  Springer.

  • Gorman, Bridget K.  Forthcoming.  “Gender Bias in Cardiac Care: A Sociologist’s Perspective.”  In Professionalism in Medicine: The Case-Based Guide for Medical Students, edited by John Spandorfer, Charles Pohl, Thomas Nasca, and Susan Lee Rattner.  Cambridge University Press. 

  • Heard, Holly E., Bridget K. Gorman, and Carolyn A. Kapinus.  “Family Structure and Self-Rated Health in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.”  Forthcoming at Population Research and Policy Review.

  • Gorman, Bridget K and Rathi Asaithambi.  2008.  “Biology, Social Environment, and Health: How Family History and Social Conditions Affect Adult Asthma”  Social Science Quarterly 89(3): 749-771.

  • Gorman, Bridget K. and Ahilan Sivaganesan.  2007.  “The Role of Social Support and Integration for Understanding Socioeconomic Disparities in Self-Rated Health and Hypertension.”  Social Science and Medicine 65(5): 958-975.

  • Gorman, Bridget K. and Jen’nan G. Read.  2007.  “Why Men Die Younger than Women.” Geriatrics & Aging 10(3):179-181.    

  • Read, Jen’nan G. and Bridget K. Gorman.  2007.  “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Hypertension and Depression among U.S. Adult Women.”  Ethnicity & Disease 17(2):383-390.

  • Landale, Nancy, Bridget K. Gorman, and R.S. Oropesa.  2006.  “Selective Migration and Infant Mortality among Puerto Rican Infants.”  Maternal and Child Health Journal  10(4):351-360.

  • Gorman, Bridget K. and Jen’nan G. Read.  2006.  “Gender Disparities in Adult Health: An Examination of Three Measures of Morbidity.”  Journal of Health and Social Behavior  47(2):95-110.

  • Bohon, Stephanie A., Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson, and Bridget K. Gorman.  2006.  “College Expectations and Aspirations among Latino Adolescents.”  Social Problems 53(2):207-225.      

  • Read, Jen’nan G. and Bridget K. Gorman.  2006.  “Gender Inequalities in U.S. Adult Health: The Interplay of Race and Ethnicity.”  Social Science and Medicine  62(5): 1045-1065.