Caitlin Patler, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at University of California, Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. She is a faculty affiliate of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, the Berkeley Population Center, and the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Prior to joining the UC Berkeley faculty, Dr. Patler was Associate Professor of Sociology at UC Davis, where she helped establish the Global Migration Center.

CV available here.

Dr. Patler’s research addresses the origins and reproduction of inequality in the U.S. through an examination of immigration laws, legal statuses, and law enforcement institutions. Dr. Patler also studies the spillover and intergenerational consequences of inequality for the health and wellbeing of young adults, youth, and children. Dr. Patler’s teaching focuses on US immigration policy and research methods. Dr. Patler received the 2021 UC Davis Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award.

Dr. Patler uses multiple methodologies to answer research questions, most commonly analyzing population survey data and administrative data, and designing, fielding, and analyzing original surveys and in-depth interviews. Dr. Patler co-authored an Op-Ed in the New York Times on the harms of imprisoning immigrant children and an Amicus Brief for the US Supreme Court summarizing the body of empirical research on DACA’s benefits.

Dr. Patler has received multiple grants and awards for her research, including support from the National Science Foundation, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, Sociological Initiatives Foundation, and the American Sociological Association. She serves on the Editorial Board of Social Problems.

Dr. Patler received the Best Publication Award from the American Sociological Association Sociology of Mental Health Section for her paper “The Limits of Gaining Rights while Remaining Marginalized: The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program and the Psychological Wellbeing of Latina/o Undocumented Young Adults” (2021, with Erin Hamilton and Robin Savinar). She received the Pacific Sociological Association Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Perspectives Award for her paper, “To Reveal or Conceal: How Diverse Undocumented Youth Navigate Legal Status Disclosure” (2019). She received the Distinguished Contribution to Research Article Award from the ASA Latina/o Sociology Section (2018) for her paper (with Whitney L. Pirtle), “From Undocumented to Lawfully Present: Do Changes to Legal Status Impact Psychological Wellbeing Among Latino Immigrant Young Adults?”.

Dr. Patler’s research is informed by two decades of research-practice partnerships with legal and civil rights organizations focused on immigration detention, access to education for immigrant youth, and low-wage labor markets.