Liz_Headshot1 copy.jpeg

Elizabeth S. Ackert

Assistant Professor in Geography, University of California-Santa Barbara
Chapter Member: Los Angeles Unified SSN
Areas of Expertise:

Connect with Elizabeth

About Elizabeth

Ackert's research focuses on racial/ethnic inequality, immigration, education, health disparities, and neighborhoods and communities. Overarching themes in Ackert's writings include documenting exposure of racial/ethnic and immigrant groups to different school, neighborhood, and community contexts, and variation in their outcomes across these contexts. Ackert is an affiliate of the UCSB Broom Center for Demography, is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advocate for the undergraduate program in her department, and is a member of the UCSB Geography, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Understanding How Mexican Immigrants Become Full Members of American Society

Key Findings Brief,

Publications

"Kin Location and Racial Disparities in Exiting and Entering Poor Neighborhoods" (with Amy Spring, Kyle Crowder, and Scott J. South). Social Science Research 84 (2019).

Shows that racial/ethnic differences in distance to kin and kin neighborhood disadvantage partially explain why Black and Latino/a individuals are less likely than Whites to move out of poor neighborhoods.

"New Destinations and the Early Childhood Education of Mexican-Origin Children" (with Robert Crosnoe and Tama Leventhal). Demography 56, no. 5 (2019): 1607–1634.

Describes how in new Latino/a destinations, Mexican-origin children, especially those whose parents are immigrant newcomers, are less likely to be enrolled in early childhood education relative to similar children living in established Latino/a destinations.

"Understanding The Health Landscapes Where Latinx Immigrants Establish Residence In The US" (with Sung Hee Hong , Jessica Martinez, Gabriel Van Praag, Pedro Aristizabal, and Robert Crosnoe). Health Affairs 40, no. 7 (2021).

Looks at differences in health resources across the U.S. communities where Latinos/as live. Results show that "established" Latino/a communities have more health care shortages, but "new" Latino/a destinations have fewer of the safety net health services that immigrant communities are most likely to utilize.

"Beyond Typologies: A Multilevel Approach to Understanding the Impact of Destinations on Immigrant Outcomes," Population Association of America, May 2012.
Shows how school dropout rates vary substantially among Mexican origin students by state of residence. Explanations for this variation include nativity and duration of residence, but also the quality of the education system in the state, as indicated by the percent of non-Latino whites that are not enrolled in school.
"Downward Assimilation in the New Destinations? The Determinants of Non-enrollment among Mexican Origin 15-17 year-olds in New and Traditional Immigrant Gateways," Population Association of America, April 2011.
Examines the finding that Mexican origin youth living in “new destinations” have higher school non-enrollment gaps with non-Latino whites than those in “traditional destinations.” For both populations, though, school non-enrollment gaps with non-Latino whites are explained by individual and household factors related to broad patterns of inequality, such as nativity, duration of residence, and parental education.