About

Jennifer Glick is the Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman Professor in Sociology and Demography at Pennsylvania State University. She is an affiliated faculty member of the Population Research Institute (PRI) and serves as the Associate Director of the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), where she is also a co-funded faculty member. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997, her M.A. in Sociology from the same institution in 1993, and her B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University in 1991. Her research focuses on social demography, particularly on migration and family processes. Her work examines the intersection of migration and the family life course, including how migration influences educational and labor force trajectories, family formation, intergenerational relationships, and living arrangements. She has conducted projects such as the FAMELO project, which includes data on children’s social development, education, and transitions to adulthood across three countries, aiming to understand how migration impacts these outcomes. Additionally, her research explores how migration alters individuals' interactions with physical and socio-political environments, contributing valuable insights into the dynamics of migration and family life.

Research topics

• Demography
• Psychology
• Demographic economics
• Geography
• Developmental psychology

Selected publications

• R Code for "From Cutting-Edge to Double-Edged: Motivational Crowding and Unequal Biogas Adoption in Nepal's Forest-Adjacent Communities"

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-05-07

  articleOpen access

  This repository contains non-sensitive R code, documentation, and derived outputs supporting the analyses reported in the manuscript “From Cutting-Edge to Double-Edged: Motivational Crowding and Unequal Biogas Adoption in Nepal’s Forest-Adjacent Communities.” The materials support the DHS-trained Random Forest benchmark, benchmark–outcome classification, logistic regression models, Eigenvector Spatial Filtering analyses, and socioeconomic sensitivity checks. Raw CNH household survey data, household identifiers, and exact GPS coordinates are not included because they contain potentially identifiable information and are restricted by participant confidentiality, Institutional Review Board requirements, and data-use conditions. Authorized users with access to the restricted CNH data may reproduce the workflow by updating the local data paths described in the README file. The 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey data are available separately from The DHS Program upon registration and approval.

  PublisherDOI

• Adolescent Migration Goals: An Application of the Aspirations-Capabilities Framework

  Population Research and Policy Review · 2026-02-28

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• R Code for "From Cutting-Edge to Double-Edged: Motivational Crowding and Unequal Biogas Adoption in Nepal's Forest-Adjacent Communities"

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-05-07

  articleOpen access

  This repository contains non-sensitive R code, documentation, and derived outputs supporting the analyses reported in the manuscript “From Cutting-Edge to Double-Edged: Motivational Crowding and Unequal Biogas Adoption in Nepal’s Forest-Adjacent Communities.” The materials support the DHS-trained Random Forest benchmark, benchmark–outcome classification, logistic regression models, Eigenvector Spatial Filtering analyses, and socioeconomic sensitivity checks. Raw CNH household survey data, household identifiers, and exact GPS coordinates are not included because they contain potentially identifiable information and are restricted by participant confidentiality, Institutional Review Board requirements, and data-use conditions. Authorized users with access to the restricted CNH data may reproduce the workflow by updating the local data paths described in the README file. The 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey data are available separately from The DHS Program upon registration and approval.

  PublisherDOI

• Internal Migration: Understanding Parent–Child Differences in Educational Expectations

  Population Research and Policy Review · 2024-03-06 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• COVID‐19, school closures and the retreat from educational aspirations

  Journal of Adolescence · 2024-09-15 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  INTRODUCTION: As a shared external shock, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) impacted health and well-being around the world. Mitigation strategies employed in many locations included school closures and travel restrictions. These strategies directly impacted educational access and opportunities and created economic stressors for families. This study examines how these direct impacts also altered educational aspirations for children and adolescents, an important predictor of educational attainment. METHOD: We estimate multilevel regression models using two waves of data, collected in 2017-18 and 2020-21, from 1294 children and adolescents (Mean age = 13.1, SD = 2.8; 50.3% female) in Jalisco, Mexico, and 2201 children and adolescents (Mean age = 14.7, SD = 2.6; 49.1% female) in Chitwan Nepal. We examine changes in educational aspirations between the two waves (pre- and post-COVID-19 onset). RESULTS: Initial aspirations are positively associated with household wealth, caregiver education, and prior commitment to education. Multilevel regression models predicting changes in educational aspirations demonstrate these resources are important for maintaining high educational aspirations. But children and adolescents in households that experienced more economic loss following the external shock of the pandemic had lowered aspirations over time. CONCLUSIONS: Disruptions to schooling and economic shocks to households curtailed educational aspirations among children and adolescents in a similar way in two disparate settings. These results raise concerns about the educational attainment of children in the face of external shocks and the possibility that educational progress will stall in low resourced environments among the most vulnerable youth.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploring the association between educational aspirations and intentions to migrate among youth in Central Mexico by gender

  International Journal of Social Welfare · 2023-07-16 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  We assessed the association between educational aspirations and the intention to migrate among 1,446 adolescents aged 11-17 years, living in semi-urban/rural communities in Jalisco, Mexico. Analyses rely on survey data from the Family Migration and Early Life Outcomes study. The outcome variable was the intention to migrate, a three-category variable coded as no intention to migrate, intention to migrate within Mexico, and intention to migrate internationally. The main independent variable was the adolescents' educational aspirations, conceptualized as the intention to achieve higher education. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine associations. We found an association between educational aspirations and intentions to migrate, and it was moderated by gender. Girls with the highest educational aspirations intended to migrate internationally, while higher educational aspirations were not a driver for boys' migration intentions. The study findings have implications for education and migration policies and future research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Environmental Impacts on Families

  National symposium on family issues · 2023-01-01 · 1 citations

  bookOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• US Citizenship for our Mexican Children! US-born Children of Non-Migrant Mothers in Northern Mexico

  Journal of Borderlands Studies · 2022-05-18 · 6 citations

  article

  We analyze the presence of non-migrant US-born children aged 0–4 in the northern states of Mexico and associated factors by parental nativity. Based on the 2020 Mexican Census, we describe the location, population size, and sociodemographic profiles of these children. We also estimate regression models to examine factors associated with children’s US nativity. We found that US births to non-migrant mothers have become a more prevalent source of US-born children than return migration in recent years. Non-migrant US-born children slightly declined from 2010 to 2020 and continued to be concentrated in northern states, particularly in the border municipalities. Multivariate regression models reveal that, among children of Mexico-born parents, being non-migrant US-born was associated with higher levels of parental schooling, socioeconomic status, or cross-border employment. Births in the U.S. are more common among Mexican middle-upper status families suggesting a selection process that may contribute to social reproduction by increasing their children’s future socioeconomic opportunities relative to Mexico-born children. However, among those with US-born parents, US birth does not vary by socioeconomic status showing those with easier access to the United States and transnational social capital do not need additional resources to secure US citizenship.

  PublisherDOI

• Drivers of prohibited natural resource collection in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

  Environmental Conservation · 2022-04-07 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Summary Protected areas (PAs) are critical for achieving conservation, economic and development goals, but the factors that lead households to engage in prohibited resource collection in PAs are not well understood. We examine collection behaviours in community forests and the protected Chitwan National Park in Chitwan, Nepal. Our approach incorporates household and ecological data, including structured interviews, spatially explicit data on collection behaviours measured with computer tablets and a systematic field survey of invasive species. We pair our data with a framework that considers factors related to a household’s demand for resources, barriers to prohibited resource collection, barriers to legal resource collection and alternatives to resource collection. The analysis identifies key drivers of prohibited collection, including sociodemographic variables and perceptions of an invasive plant ( Mikania micrantha ). The social-ecological systems approach reveals that household perceptions of the presence of M. micrantha were more strongly associated with resource collection decisions than the actual ecologically measured presence of the plant. We explore the policy implications of our findings for PAs and propose that employing a social-ecological systems approach leads to conservation policy and scientific insights that are not possible to achieve with social or ecological approaches alone.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Educational and migration aspirations among children of Mexican migrant returnees in a border context

  Migration Studies · 2021-03-24 · 11 citations

  articleSenior author

  There has been a significant increase in migrant children from the US living in Mexico in the last two decades. This article analyses the association between transnational schooling and the education and migration aspirations (the country one wishes to live or work in) of lower secondary students in Tijuana, a border city with very high return migration. This article also addresses how education and migration aspirations are connected and the extent to which these aspirations are mediated by US-specific capital (US citizenship, having family members in the United States, English proficiency, and cultural identification with the United States). The analyses draw from the 2017 School Integration and Migration Survey, conducted among students in 86 lower secondary schools, and 38 follow-up semi-structured interviews with transnational students. The results indicate that students with US school experience were more likely to aspire to study a two-year college or technical degree than non-transnational students. Transnational schooling was also directly associated with aspiring to migrate or engage in cross-border employment. Interviews elucidate the ways tertiary education plans were subordinate to intentions to work in the US as funding their education became part of transnational students' life projects. US schools were essential conduits through which education values, English skills, and national identities became ingrained in Mexican migrant children. Students' migratory aspirations were nurtured by their experience in US schools and transnational social networks, in addition to their US citizenship. The public policy implications of these findings are also discussed.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Family Migration and Early Life Outcomes

  NIH · $9.9M · 2015–2022

• NIH Grant R21HD058141

  NIH · $405k · 2012

• NIH Grant R01HD037054

  NIH · $302k · 2004

Frequent coauthors

• Scott T. Yabiku

  Pennsylvania State University

  11 shared

• Jennifer Van Hook

  Pennsylvania State University

  11 shared

• Michael J. White

  Brown University

  6 shared

• Qunshan Zhao

  4 shared

• Frank D. Bean

  University of California, Irvine

  4 shared

• Seline Szkupinski Quiroga

  Purdue University System

  3 shared

• Littisha A. Bates

  3 shared

• Dulce Medina

  3 shared

Labs

• Jennifer Glick LabPI

Awards & honors

• Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman Professor in Sociology and De…