Women in Community Engagement: Do Higher-Earners Have Stronger Perceptions of Community Involvement?

Ashley Sheree,* Erin Hudnall, and Katie Corcoran
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation No.: 124

Assigned Category (Presentation Format): Social & Behavioral Sciences (Poster Presentations)

Student’s Major: Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies

Previous research shows higher-earning community members are more likely to be involved in community development activities than their lower-earning peers, in part due to resource distribution and access. Community engagement allows people to form connections with their peers as they work to create positive tangible change within their communities. However, women and Appalachia are two underrepresented groups within social science. Few research studies have centered Appalachia or assessed the impact of women as community leaders. This paper relies on longitudinal survey research to explore differences in community engagement attitudes amongst Appalachian women by examining the intersection of income and gender. Analyzing the role of intersecting identities is important to sociological research because people of different statuses have different experiences within their communities. This research separates Appalachian women leaders into two categories based on income. Statistical analysis software STATA is used to evaluate survey responses of local women leaders based on how strongly they feel their community engagement efforts benefit their communities.

Funding:

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's SURE program (Rita Rio & Michelle Richards-Babb)