Shirin Montazer
Associate Professor
313-577-2930
313-577-2735 (fax)
2270 F/AB, 656 W. Kirby St.
Shirin Montazer
Research interest(s)/area of expertise
- Sociology of Mental Health
- Work-Family Conflict
- International Migration
- Quantitative Methodology
Research
Shirin Montazer received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Toronto, Canada. Her research focus is at the juncture of mental health, work-family conflict, and international migration, with migration to Canada as the primary example. A common thread in her research investigates how mental health status, and trajectories, and evolving work-family conflict, among immigrants, are modified by macro-level and micro-level factors. More recently, her research examines the impact of job demands (e.g., commuting distance, and overnight work-travel) on work-family conflict and mental health in the general population. She is a co-principal investigator for a NSF RAPID grant that uses mixed methods (surveys and interviews) to assess how work, family, and health among dual-income couples have changed within the context of COVID-19. Her work appears in such journals as the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Society and Mental Health, Social Science Research, and Social currents.
Education
Ph.D. University of Toronto, Toronto, 2012Awards and grants
Grants
Agency: NSF
Title: RAPID: Work, Family, and Social Well-being among Couples in the Context of COVID-19.
Role: Co-PI (PI: K. Brumley; Co-PI: B. Baltes, K. Maguire)
Dates: 2020-2021
Total Funds: $191,000
Awards
Career Development Chair Award. 2023.
Humanities Center Fellowship. 2022. “Fear in the time of Covid-19: The Effect of the Pandemic on the Mental Health of Employed Adults in the U.S.”
Humanities Center Fellowship (with Krista Brumley). 2017. “21st Century Technological Revolution and its discontents: Work-Family Conflict in Long Distance and Proximal Relationships.”
Award for Best Dissertation, American Sociological Association, Section on the Sociology of Mental Health, 2013
Selected publications
2024. Montazer, Shirin, and Marisa Young. “The Long Haul Home: The Relationship between Commuting Distance, Work Hours, Work-to-Family Conflict, and Psychological Distress.” Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World.
https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241258361
2024. Montazer, Shirin, Laura Pineault, Krista M. Brumley, Katheryn Maguire, Boris Baltes. "Social Change in the Turbulent Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts of Work-related Demands on Work-to-family Conflict, Mastery, and Psychological Distress" Society and Mental Health https://doi.org/10.1177/21568693231218256
2022. Montazer, Shirin. "Immigration, Homeownership, and Mental Health." Socius: Sociological Research for Dynamic World. https://doi.org/10.1177/237802312211393
2022. Montazer, Shirin, Krista M. Brumley, Laura Pineault, Katheryn Maguire, Boris Baltes. "COVID-19 Onset, Parental Status, and Psychological Distress among Full-time Employed Heterosexual Adults in Dual-earning Relationships: The Explanatory Role of Work-family Conflict and Guilt" Society and Mental Health
2020. Montazer, Shirin and Marisa Young. “Commuting Distance and Work-to-Family Conflict: The Moderating Role of Residential Attributes." Social Currents 7:231-251.
2018. Montazer, Shirin. "Disentangling the Effects of Primary and Secondary International Migration on Psychological Distress: The role of Mastery.” Canadian Journal of Public Health 109: 284-293
2017. Montazer, Shirin and Blair Wheaton. "Economic Conditions in Countries of Origin and Trajectories in Distress after Migration to Canada: Results from the National Population Health Survey." Society and Mental Health 7: 1-20.
2011. Montazer, Shirin and Blair Wheaton. 2011. "The Impact of Generation and Country of Origin on the Mental Health of Children of Immigrants" Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52: 23-42.
Courses taught by Shirin Montazer
Fall Term 2025 (future)
- SOC2214 - Stress and Society: The Sociology of Mental Health
- SOC3220 - Introduction to Social Statistics