Amy Hsin

Professor · Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights
Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame

I am a sociologist specializing in immigration, social inequality, education, and public policy, with particular attention to Asian Americans and undocumented young adults. I have published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in journals including PNAS, Demography, Social Forces, and International Migration Review.

My forthcoming book, Beyond Dream: Undocumented Young Adults in New York City (Russell Sage Foundation Press), draws on a mixed-method study of undocumented young adults in New York City. It examines how ethnic and socioeconomic diversity — alongside immigration policy — shapes education trajectories, life aspirations, and social connections.

My new project is a multi-site, mixed-methods study examining how Indian and Chinese immigrants — two groups both racialized as Asian Americans, yet one coming from the world's largest democracy and the other from a country with no history of democratic rule — understand and engage with democratic institutions and civil and human rights in the United States. The project explores how these distinct political histories shape immigrants' civic orientations and rights consciousness after arrival.

ahsin@nd.edu Curriculum Vitae

Education

Ph.D. Sociology

University of California, Los Angeles

2008

NICHD Postdoctoral Fellow

University of Michigan

2008–2010

M.A. Economics

New York University

2002

B.A. Economics & Mathematics

New York University

1999

Academic Positions

Professor of Migration, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame 2025–present
Chair, Sociology, Queens College, CUNY 2024–2025
Associate Chair, Sociology, Queens College, CUNY 2017–2024
Associate Professor, Sociology, Queens College, CUNY 2017–2023
Assistant Professor, Sociology, Queens College, CUNY 2010–2017
NICHD Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan 2008–2010

Book

—
Aptekar, S. & Hsin, A. (2025, forthcoming). Beyond Dream: Undocumented Young Adults in New York City. Russell Sage Foundation Press

Research Articles

1
Prasai, A., Mogami, M., Jung, S., Lee, C.S., Okazaki, S., Cherng, H.S., Flores, S., Lee, O., & Hsin, A. (forthcoming). Facilitators and barriers in the college pathways of working-class immigrant youth of color in New York City. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education
2
Cherng, H.S., Hsin, A., Moreno, M., Carroll, T., Okazaki, S., Flores, S., & Lee, O. (2024). A flawed policy metaphor: An empirical test of earlier academic promise and later STEM. American Journal of Education
3
Okura, K., Hsin, A., & Aptekar, S. (2023). Heterogeneous effects of DACA on undocumented college students' educational outcomes. International Migration Review
4
Aptekar, S. & Hsin, A. (2022). Stratified liminal legality: How mode of entry and notions of deservingness stratify experience of illegality among diverse undocumented youth. Social Forces, 102, 45–62
5
Legewie, J., Hsin, A., Harder, N., & Martén, L. (2022). Local policing and the educational outcomes of undocumented college students. Sociological Sciences, 9, 406–429
6
Ortega, F. & Hsin, A. (2022). Occupational barriers and the labor market penalty from lack of legal status. Labour Economics, 76
7
Reed, H., Aptekar, S., & Hsin, A. (2022). Managing illegality on campus: Undocumented mismatch between students and staff. Harvard Educational Review, 92(1), 32–54
8
Hsin, A. & Aptekar, S. (2021). The violence of asylum: The case of Chinese undocumented immigrants in the US. Social Forces, 100(3), 1195–1217
9
Kreisberg, A.N. & Hsin, A. (2020). The higher educational trajectories of undocumented youth in the United States. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 7(1), 1–24
10
Hsin, A. & Reed, H. (2020). The academic performance of undocumented students in higher education in the United States. International Migration Review, 54(1), 289–315
11
Ortega, F., Edwards, R., & Hsin, A. (2018). The economic effects of providing legal status to DREAMers. IZA Journal of Labor Policy
12
Hsin, A. (2018). Hegemonic gender norms and the gender gap in achievement: The case of Asian Americans. Sociological Science, 5, 752–774
13
Hsin, A. & Ortega, F. (2018). The effects of DACA on the educational outcomes of undocumented students: Evidence from a large public university. Demography, 55(4), 1487–1506
14
Hsin, A. & Xie, Y. (2017). Life-course changes in the mediation of cognitive and noncognitive skills for parental effects on children's academic achievement. Social Science Research, 63, 150–165
15
Hsin, A. (2016). How selective migration enables class mobility. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 39(13), 2379–2384
16
Choi, K., Hsin, A., & McLanahan, S. (2015). Asian mothers and children's verbal development in Australia and the United States. Social Science Research, 52(1), 389–407
17
Hsin, A. & Felfe, C. (2014). When does time matter? Maternal employment, children's time with parents, and child development. Demography, 51(5), 1867–1894
18
Hsin, A. & Xie, Y. (2014). Explaining Asian Americans' academic achievement over whites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8416–8421
19
Hsin, A. (2013). Is biology destiny? Birth weight and differential parental treatment. Demography, 49(4), 1385–1405
20
Felfe, C. & Hsin, A. (2012). Maternal work conditions and child development. Economics of Education Review, 31(1), 1057
21
Hsin, A. (2009). Parent's time with children: Does time matter for children's cognitive achievement? Social Indicator Research, 93(1), 123–127
22
Hsin, A. (2007). Children's time use: Labor divisions and schooling in Indonesia. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(5), 1297–1306

Other Publications & Policy Work

Amicus Brief · 2025
Brief of Social Science Scholars as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellees and Affirmance. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Case No. 25-807 (Repeal of Birthright Citizenship)
Amicus Brief · 2019
Amicus Curiae Brief of Empirical Scholars in Support of Respondents. Supreme Court of the United States, Nos. 18-587, 18-588, and 18-589 (DACA Rescinding Case)
Econofact · 2019
What explains the wages of undocumented workers?
Scholars Strategy Network · 2018
The limited effect of DACA on higher education for undocumented youth
The Conversation · 2018
Dreamers could give the US economy — and even American workers — a boost
The Hill · 2018
How the DREAM Act can actually lower the deficit