Mary Gatta PhD.’94
“I graduated in 1994, the year the Women’s Studies minor was first approved, so I was never officially a minor (or major!). However, throughout my time at PC, I took many Women’s Studies courses, and those classes, faculty, and my classmates were central to my development as a researcher and professor.
Women’s Studies also gave me my first opportunity to conduct original research and present it publicly. Faculty who were advocating for the new minor organized a forum where students could share our research with the PC community. That experience was incredibly important—it was one of the first times I began to see myself as a researcher and academic and to develop the skills that would shape my career.
My background in Women’s Studies continues to inform my work today. It taught me to approach research through the lenses of equity and intersectionality and to ask who benefits, who is left out, and how institutions and policies affect different groups. I bring that perspective to my research and advocacy around economic security, education, and workforce policy, using evidence-based research to identify inequities and develop solutions that take into account the experiences of women and other marginalized groups.”
Mary Gatta ’94 (Women’s and Gender Studies program alumna; Social Science major) is Director of Research and Policy at the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and serves on the faculty of Rutgers University’s Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations. She holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University and is a nationally recognized scholar, researcher, and author whose work focuses on labor markets, workforce development, economic insecurity, gender equity, and work-family policy.
