Work in Black & White: Striving for the American Dream

Join the Center for Racial Justice in welcoming Dr. Enobong (Anna) Branch, senior vice president for equity at Rutgers University, to discuss her latest publication, Work in Black & White: Striving for the American Dream.

Co-authored with sociologist Caroline Hanley, Work in Black & White draws on interviews with 80 middle-aged Black and White Americans to explore how their attitudes and perceptions of success are influenced by the stories American culture has told about the American Dream – and about who should have access to it and who should not.

This event is part of our Fall 2023 Racial Foundations of Public Policy speaker series and is open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners. 

About the speaker

Dr. Enobong (Anna) Branch leads the University Equity and Inclusion office and the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement on the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University, championing the role of diversity and inclusion in achieving excellence and strengthening the institutional commitment to its diverse community on and off campus. She  provides strategic leadership to ensure that the institutional commitment to equity is reflected in the research, educational, and public engagement efforts that occur throughout the university and the focus extends to faculty, staff, and students.

A professor of sociology, Dr. Branch's commitment to advancing equity extends to academic research on labor and work that explores the historical roots and contemporary underpinnings of racial and gender inequality. She is the co-author of Black in America: The Paradox of the Color Line (2020), the editor of Pathways, Potholes, and the Persistence of Women in Science: Reconsidering the Pipeline (2016), and the author of Opportunity Denied: Limiting Black Women to Devalued Work (2011).

• dr. enobong branch
• Center for Racial Justice
• Department of Sociology
• DEI
• Racial Foundations of Public Policy
• race and inequality
• Sociology
• Ford School