Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration

Devah Pager (1972-2018) is an American sociologist known for her work on racial discrimination in the US labor market and criminal justice system. She received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin­-Madison in 2002, completing a dissertation titled, The Mark of a Criminal Record, which received the 2003 Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association. At the time of her death, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University.

Pager’s expertise in matters of racial discrimination and criminal justice is well-represented in her book. Using the audit method, she not only shed light on the discrimination young Black men with criminal records face on the job market, but also proposed policy changes to combat the problem. Her findings have appeared in several well-respected newspapers, including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Wall Street Journal. They were also featured in the 2008 CNN documentary, Black in America.

Dense with statistical analysis and graphics, Pager’s book is best suited to specialists. However, the use of her data by national newspapers and media outlets made her findings accessible to broad audiences. Her work informed the “Ban the Box” campaign, a social justice movement that combats racial discrimination in labor markets by asking employers to select job candidates based on skills and credentials alone, rather than discriminating based on past convictions.