Research
Major Fields: Gender, Development, Organizations
Current Projects
(if not linked, email me for the latest draft or ungated publication)
González, Alessandra L. The Economics of Cultural Change and Female Employment in Saudi Arabia. (Book-length manuscript under contract with Princeton University Press).
Working Papers:
"Doing Business Far From Home: Multinational Firms and Labor Market Outcomes in Saudi Arabia" with Xianglong Kong [Updated Draft], Revisions requested at European Economic Review
"The Glass Web: Kinship Networks, Female Executives, and Female Employment: Evidence from the Middle East," with Nicolas Wesseler [BFI Working Paper]
"Mentorship and Role Modeling, In and Out of the House: Evidence from High School Girls in Saudi Arabia," with Inmaculada Macias-Alonso and Jennifer Peck [BFI Working Paper]
Work-in-Progress:
"Signals and Role Models: First Female Managers, Firms, and Female Employment in Saudi Arabia." (draft available upon request)
“‘Small Negotiations’ at the Gateways to Professional Careers,” with Hannah Riley Bowles, Deborah Wu, Bobbi Thomason, Ons Ben Abdelkarim, Aanchal Setia, Rati Thanawala, and Nilanjana Dasgupta. (draft in progress)
Global Corporate Diversity Practices (interview and survey data collection in progress)
Books
2013 González, Alessandra L. Islamic Feminism in Kuwait: The Politics and Paradoxes. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.*
Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters
2023. "Resilience, adaptation and strategic engagement: Saudi female entrepreneurs confront Covid-19," with Inmaculada Macias-Alonso. June. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship.
2023. "Self-driven Women: Gendered mobility, employment, and the lift of the driving ban in Saudi Arabia," with Inmaculada Macias-Alonso and HaRyung Kim. March. Gender, Place, and Culture.
2020. "Misperceived Social Norms: Women Working Outside the Home in Saudi Arabia" (with Leonardo Bursztyn and David Yanagizawa-Drott). October 2020, Lead Article - American Economic Review
2020. "Insider’s Advantage: When Foreign Firms Do Not Capture Opportunity in Local Labor Markets." December 2020, //Transnational Corporations Journal// Special Issue on Multinational Firms and Gender Equality.
2019. “Women's University Attainment and Labor Force Participation in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries.” Chapter in Gender and Work in the Global Economy edited by Beth English, Mary Frederickson, Olga Sanmiguel Valderrama. NY: Routledge.
2018. "The Veil You Know: Individual and Societal-Level Explanations for Wearing the Hijab in Comparative Perspective." (December, Social Compass) (with Lubna Al-Kazi).
2017. “Women in the News: A U.S.-Arab Gulf Comparison.” Chapter in Arab Women and Media In Changing Landscapes edited by Elena Maestri and Annemarie Profanter. NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
2015 “‘Not At All Religious’: Irreligiosity as Deviance in a Majority Muslim Context.” Deviant Behavior. December.
2014 “How Women Engage Homegrown Terrorism.” Feminist Criminology, 30th Anniversary Special Issue. (with Joshua D. Freilich and Steve Chermak)
2013 “Who is an Islamic Feminist and What Does He Look Like?” Pp. 39-49 in Islam and International Relations: Mutual Perceptions, edited by Nassef Adiong. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
2011 “Complicating the ‘Clash of Civilizations’: Gender and Politics in Contemporary Kuwait.” Pp. 64-84 in the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion, Vol. 2 edited by Patrick Michel and Enzo Pace. Boston: Brill. (with Lubna Al-Kazi)
2011 "Measuring Religiosity in a Majority Muslim Context: Gender, Religious Salience, and Religious Experience Among Kuwaiti College Students - A Research Note.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50(2):339-350.
Other Publications
2014 “Working with Patriarchy: Strategies for Women’s Empowerment in Comparative Perspective.” Chapter in Middle East Conflicts & Reforms, ed. by Mohammed M. Aman and Mary Jo Aman, Washington, DC: PSO/Westphalia Press; pp. 275-292. Publisher's Version
2012 “Choosing through the Iron Veil: Gender and Power Among Elite Women in Kuwait,” Chapter in Women’s Encounter with Globalization, edited by Samir DasGupta, Robyn Driskell, Nicola Yeates and Yvonne Braun. UK: Frontpage Publications.