Natalia Sarkisian, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor who teaches advanced graduate statistics courses and marriage and family courses in the Department of Sociology.  She received her Ph.D. with distinction and M.A. in sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a B.A. summa cum laude in sociology from the State Academy of Management, Moscow, Russia. 

Dr. Sarkisian’s recent publications include an article on race differences in extended family help in American Sociological Review and an article on employment and help to parents in the Journal of Marriage and Family. The latter article was selected as the winner of the 2005 Rosabeth Moss Kanter International Award for Research Excellence in Families and Work, given by the Center for Families at Purdue University and the Boston College Center for Work and Family.  Her current research examines the gender gap in extended family caregiving, the relationship between extended kin support and older workers' employment, the effects of marriage and parenthood on extended family integration and marriage, as well as the racial/ethnic differences in extended family integration and in father-child involvement. 

Dr. Sarkisian’s research has been generously supported by the University of Massachusetts Graduate School Fellowship, American Sociological Association and Russell Sage Foundation Rose Fellowship, Social Science Research Council Dissertation Fellowship, and Boston College Junior Faculty Fellowship.  She also has been a recipient of a number of awards from professional associations, including the American Sociological Association, Society for the Study of Social Problems, Eastern Sociological Society, and Carework Network.