Dr. Bart Stykes
I am a first-generation college graduate from northeast Tennessee. Growing up I enjoyed a riding horses, hiking, playing various sports, and participating in the performing arts. I became a sociology major intending to work in the non-profit sector with "at-risk" youth. However, in taking my first Research Methods class, I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed learning about the scientific processes that informed sociological insight.
I went on to complete my graduate coursework at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and received my PhD in 2015. I joined the faculty of the Sociology Department at Sam Houston State University in September of 2015 and am currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies.
As a researcher, I identify as a family demographer with special interests in family formation, individual well-being, gender, and survey measurement. Much of my research considers the reproduction of structural inequalities both within and through families coupled with an interest in data quality and survey measurement.
Classes Taught: Age and Inequality, Marriage and the Family (both undergraduate and graduate), Research Methods and Applied Research Methods (graduate), Proseminar in Sociology (graduate), and Social Statistics (undergraduate).
Research Interests: Family Complexity, Instability, Structure and Child Outcomes; Fatherhood and Father Involvement; Unintended and Nonmarital Childbearing and Multipartnered Fertility.
Selected Publications:
- Arsenault, Ken (former graduate student) and J. Bart Stykes. 2018. Moving Past Dichotomies of Fathering Roles: A New Approach. Journal of Marriage and Family 81(3): 747-759. DOI: 10.111/jomf.12548
- Stykes, J. Bart. 2018. Gender, Couples’ Fertility Intentions, and Parents’ Depressive Symptoms. Society and Mental Health (online first). DOI: 10.1177/2156869318802340
- Stykes, J. Bart. 2019. What we Really Know about Stepfamilies: An Elaboration on White Middle Class Biases in Stepfamily Research. In Susan Stewart’s and Gordon Limb’s (Eds.) Stepfamilies: Multicutural Perspectives published by Cognella.