Elizabeth A. Sharrow

Associate Professor of History and Public Policy, Director of Faculty Research, Institute for Social Science Research

Elizabeth Sharrow (they/she) is associate professor in the School of Public Policy and the Department of History (affiliated faculty in the Department of Political Science) and Director of Faculty Research at the UMass Institute for Social Science Research. They specialize in the gendered politics of public policy and how policy has shaped intersectional meanings of sex, race, sexuality, disability, and class in US politics over the past fifty years.

Sharrow’s research interests are in the politics and history of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the politics of gender and race in US politics, the politics of the family, and the politics of college athletics. They are co-author of Equality Unfulfilled: How Title IX’s Policy Design Undermines Change to College Sport (Cambridge University Press). Their scholarship has been published in many scholarly forums. Her work has also been featured by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and has received multiple awards.

Sharrow’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the American Association of University Women, the American Political Science Association, the Williams Institute at the UCLA Law School, the Myra Sadker Foundation, the Gerald Ford Presidential Foundation, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. She currently sits on the editorial board of the American Political Science Review and Politics & Gender.

She teaches courses on the politics of public policy, and gender and race in policy history, and serves on the UMass Public Engagement Project Steering Committee.

Sharrow received their PhD in political science with a minor program in feminist and critical sexuality studies from the University of Minnesota. She holds a master’s in public policy with a focus on gender, law, and sports policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. 

Research Areas

Title IX, policy history, gender and race in US politics, LGBTQ+ politics and rights, politics of the family, politics of college athletics

Awards and Accolades

New England Regional Fellowship Consortium Research Grant, Massachusetts Historical Society 

UMass College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Support Grant 

Social Science Research Council Research Grant 

American Association of University Women American Fellowship 

National Collegiate Athletic Association Research Grant 

Myra Sadker Foundation Research Grant 

Gerald Ford Presidential Foundation Research Grant

Courses Recently Taught

Undergraduate Courses:

Gender and Race in US Social Policy (HISTORY/POLISCI 364)
Sports, Policy, and Politics (POLISCI 392SH)
Controversies in Public Policy (POLISCI 181)
History of U.S. Social Policy and the Politics of Gender, Race, and Class

Graduate Courses:
History of U.S. Social Policy and the Politics of Gender, Race, and Class