Ember Skye Kane-Lee

I am a qualitative sociologist and feminist scholar who examines how inequalities manifest within organizations at both micro and macro levels of analysis. I specifically focus on gender and racial inequality from the perspective of diversity, equity and inclusion, and, examine organizational issues through an intersectional lens, focused on creating interventions to issues. I have extensive expertise in qualitative methodological research consulting, project management, workshop facilitation and training organizations in a range of methodological data collection approaches including NVivo softwear, data analysis and focus group interviews. 

I am a research manager in the UMass Donahue Institute's Economic and Public Policy Research unit, where I work with a range of clients accross Massachusetts and use research to help answer their economic inquiries and reccomend public policy solutions. Previously I was a researcher for the National Science Foundation's ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant at UMass Amherst, a multi-million dollar grant which implemented collaborative, mixed methods research to inform interventions aimed at improving the retention, diversity, equity and inclusion of faculty members accross campus. In addition I have worked for the Institute of Social Science Research as a qualitative methods consultant where I taught methodologically focused workshops and consulted with research groups.

My dissertation examines how gender and race shapes women’s experiences as career firefighters in the East Coast, specifically focusing on 1) what tokenism looks like for women firefighters and how role encapsulation differs by race, and 2) what pathways look like for firefighters entering into this job and how both race and gender shape this. Using ethnographic field notes collected from spending two years observing daily interactions at firehouses and data from 40 in depth interviews with firefighters of diverse race and gender backgrounds, I explore how gender, race and class reproduce inequality within firehouses, as well as how firefighters understand their experiences within this job. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship.  

M.A., Sociology, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, 2020

B.A., Sociology, City University of New York- Brooklyn College, 2013

Gender & Organizations; Feminist Theory; Race; Sociology of Sport; Qualitative Research Methods; Work and Professions; Feminist Research Methods and Theory; Symbolic Interactionism

Misra, Joya; Kane-Lee, Ember Skye; Mickey, Ethel; Smith-Doerr, Laurel. 2024. “I don’t believe that I have been wanted”: Processes of Overinclusion and Exclusion in Racialized and Gendered Organizations. Social Problems. Online Access.

Misra, Joya; Kane-Lee, Ember Skye; Mickey, Ethel. 2022. Creating Inclusive Department Climates in STEM Fields: Multiple faculty perspectives on the same departments. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education

Kane-Lee, Ember Skye; Misra, Joya; Mickey, Ethel. 2021. Fostering Inclusion for Black Faculty. Understanding and Dismantling Privilege Journal. Online Access.

Misra, Joya; Kane-Lee; Ember Skye; Mickey, Ethel. 2021. "Institutional Approaches to Mentoring Faculty Colleagues." Inside Higher Ed. Online Access.

Mickey, Ethel; Kane-Lee, Ember Skye; Misra, Joya. 2020. "10 Small Steps for Department Chairs to Foster Inclusion." Inside Higher Ed. Online Access.

Kane-Lee, Ember Skye. 2015. “Throw Like a Girl” Challenging and Unpacking Modern Day Gender Norms Within Sport,” Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology (TRAILS). Online Access via TRAILS resource portal.