Bio: (1952-) American sociologist. Douglas Massey got his PhD from Princeton and a postdoctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He currently teaches at Princeton University and is an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Massey was the President of the American Sociological Association and the President of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and is a co-editor of the Annual Review of Sociology.

Massey wrote extensively on the topics of international migration, urban poverty, race, housing segregation, discrimination, stratification, education, and Latin America. He is most known for his long-term research, done in cooperation with Nancy Danton, on racial residential segregation in the US. Based on that research, together they written tree articles – “The Dimensions of Residential Segregation” (1988a), “Residential Segregation of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians by Socioeconomic Status and Generation” (1988), and “Hypersegregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Black and Hispanic Segregation along Five Dimensions” (1989) – and a book American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass (1993). Their work aims to depict the origins, scope, persistence, and consequences that racial residential segregation had on the formation of the black underclass.

Massey and Denton conducted a systematic analysis of 1980 U.S. census data across metropolitan areas, applying twenty segregation indices identified through their review of prior research. Their conclusions—and the set of indices they selected—were later confirmed using 1990 census data. They argued that segregation is not a single, unified phenomenon but instead consists of five distinct spatial dimensions: evenness, exposure, clustering, concentration, and centralization. In some U.S. cities, they found that Black populations were highly segregated across all five dimensions simultaneously, a condition they termed “hypersegregation.” In 1990, twenty metropolitan areas met this criterion, encompassing approximately eleven million Black Americans—about 36 percent of the total Black population. Overall, Black Americans remain the most segregated racial group, with about two-thirds of urban Black residents living in highly segregated environments and attending predominantly minority public schools.

Because of the long history of racial stratification in the United States, Black and white populations tend to live in neighborhoods that are economically, socially, and racially distinct, effectively creating separate social worlds with increasingly divergent values and opportunities. Massey and Denton describe this historical pattern as a “culture of segregation.” Residential segregation has functioned as a key mechanism sustaining systemic inequality, contributing to limited job prospects, inadequate public services, and disparities in primary and secondary education. Concentrated poverty, in turn, can largely be explained by two main factors: the extent of spatial segregation experienced by a racial group and its overall poverty rate.

Segregation has also contributed to the emergence of a subculture characterized by linguistic isolation (such as Black English), lower educational attainment, and a tendency toward oppositional attitudes vis-à-vis dominant societal norms. Within marginalized urban communities, an alternative status system has developed that stands in contrast to mainstream American values. This oppositional culture can be understood as a rational response to structural constraints, even though it may also produce negative consequences for the communities involved.

Douglas Massey further examined how race, immigration status, and academic achievement intersect. He found that high-achieving Black and Hispanic students from segregated neighborhoods often experience college-related economic and family stress that leads to declines in academic performance and satisfaction. Although many minority students demonstrate strong commitment and effort in pursuing higher education, they face additional pressures that can hinder their progress. Failing to complete high school or college has significant consequences for future earnings, particularly for those entering the workforce directly. While only 13 percent of Black Americans aged 18–19 were immigrants or children of immigrants, Massey and his colleagues found that 27 percent of Black freshmen at selective colleges in 1999 were first- or second-generation immigrants. There is also some evidence suggesting that white employers may show preferential treatment toward Black immigrants.

Main works

"Dimensions of the New Immigration to the United States and the Prospects for Assimilation" (1981).

“Ethnic Residential Segregation: A Theoretical Synthesis and Empirical Review”, in Sociology and Social Research (1985);

“Trends in the Residential Segregation of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, 1970–1980”, in American Sociological Review (1987);

Return to Aztlan: The Social Process of International Migration from Western Mexico (1987);

"The Dimensions of Residential Segregation", in Social Forces (1988);

“Residential Segregation of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians by Socioeconomic Status and Generation”, in Social Science Quarterly (1988);

“Hypersegregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Black and Hispanic Segregation along Five Dimensions”, in Demography (1989);

 American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass (1993);

“Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal”, in Population and Development Review (1993);

 ‘‘The Changing Geographic Structure of Black-White Segregation in the United States’’, in Social Science Quarterly (1995);

‘‘The Dimensions of Segregation Revisited’’, in Sociological Methods and Research (1996);

‘‘The Age of Extremes: Concentrated Affluence and Poverty in the Twenty-First Century’’, in Demography (1996);

 “What’s Driving Mexico-U.S. Migration? A Theoretical, Empirical, and Policy Analysis”, in American Journal of Sociology (1997);

Worlds in Motion: International Migration at the End of the Millennium (1998); 

"What I Don't Know About My Field but Wish I Did", in Annual Review of Sociology (2000);

 “Residential Segregation and Neighborhood Conditions in U.S. Metropolitan Areas”, in Neil J. Smelser, William Julius Wilson, and Faith Mitchell (eds.). America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences (2001);

Problem of the Century: Racial Stratification in the United States at Century's End (2001); 

The Source of the River: The Origins, Aspirations, and Values of Freshmen at America's Elite Colleges and Universities (2001); 

Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: U.S. Immigration Policy in the Age of Globalization (2001); 

“The Continuing Consequences of Segregation: Family Stress and College Academic Performance”, in Social Science Quarterly (2004);

Crossing the border: Research from the Mexican Migration Project (2004); 

Return of the "L" Word: A Liberal Vision for the New Century (2005); 

Strangers in a Strange Land: Humans in an Urbanizing World (2005); 

 “Social Background and Academic Performance Differentials: White and Minority Students at Selective Colleges”, in American Law and Economics Review (2006);

 “Black Immigrants and Black Natives Attending Selective Colleges and Universities in the United States”, in American Journal of Education (2007);  

Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System (2007); 

New Faces in New Places: The New Geography of American Immigration (2007); 

Taming the River:  Negotiating the Academic, Financial, and Social Currents in Selective Colleges and Universities (2009);  

Brokered Boundaries: Creating Immigrant Identity in Anti-Immigrant Times (2010);  

The Non-Response Challenge to Surveys and Statistics (2013);

Climbing Mount Laurel: The Struggle for Affordable Housing and Social Mobility in an American Suburb (2013);

Immigration and the Future of America (2013);

Spheres of Influence: The Social Ecology of Racial and Class Inequality (2014);

Undocumented Migration in a Global Economy (2016).