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Sociologist's Marriage Research Strikes a Chord With the Public

Jessi Streib on TV

Jessi Streib prepares for an interview in the Duke TV studio. Photo: Duke University

When Jessi Streib wrote her book about cross-class marriages, she already had the media in mind.

“I tried to find a topic that would get average Americans interested in this project and the obvious next step was to try to get the media involved,” she said. “I hoped maybe a local paper would cover it, but I had no idea if the national media would be interested.”

As it turned out, there was interest. New York Magazine picked up the story and it snowballed from there.

Streib is an assistant professor of sociology at Duke whose research focuses on American class differences. Her book, The Power of the Past: Understanding Cross-Class Marriages, explores what happens when adults raised in a white-collar family marry a partner from a blue-collar background. The book’s topic has resonated not only with her readers, but with national news media as well. Outlets like The Washington Post, National Public Radio, MSNBC, Vox, Times Higher Education and Elle have reported on her findings. 

Jessi Streib wasn’t always a media darling, though. When she came to Duke two years ago, Eric Ferreri from Duke’s Office of News and Communications was one of the first people she met. He offered to help her with the media and she admits that she was a little dubious.

“Academics tend to think of the media as antagonistic,” she said. “But Eric told me that the good ones are on your side and are really trying to get your story right. That helped a lot and made me more relaxed and open to working with the media.”

So, when Streib’s book was released, she coordinated her media efforts with Ferreri. He wrote a blog post about the book and then sent the link to a list of reporters and media outlets he thought might be interested.

“It was more of a soft pitch approach than an official news release,” said Ferreri, “and it worked.”

Streib is thrilled with the media attention the book has gotten.

“I think knowing that the book resonates with so many people is my favorite part of all this,” she said. “And so many different media outlets picking it up suggests that they think it will resonate, too.”

How has the feedback from the public been for Streib? Some has been great, like a woman who emailed her to say the book made her feel better about her own marriage. Some has been less so, like the email she received saying her voice was “too throaty.”

“It’s been an interesting mix,” Streib said with a laugh.

It has been a learning process, too. Streib has had to figure out how to put ideas into laymen’s terms that would use a completely different vocabulary in the social science research world. She has also had to be brief in her interviews, especially for radio and TV.

“It’s hard to condense a book into five sentences,” she said.

Another learning moment came when The Washington Post asked Streib to write an opinion piece for them. She turned in a first draft that was much different from the version that they published.

“They edited it so much it felt like it wasn’t mine anymore,” she said.

Media outlets are free to report and edit as they see fit, Ferreri said, which is why his office counsels faculty members to understand going into an interview that they may not be completely pleased with the outcome. Even opinion pieces like Streib’s can be edited, he added.

“It can be a little jarring for the faculty member,” Ferreri said. “More often than not, though, the final product will still add great value to the public conversation.”

Streib’s second book will focus on students with different class backgrounds and how they transition from college into the working world.

“Hopefully there will be just as much media coverage for that book,” said Streib. “I’ve learned a lot with this book and I know I will feel much more comfortable the second time around.”