Rate My Professor Joseph Soares

Joseph Soares is a Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest University, where he has served as Department Chair since 2014. He earned a B.A. from Rutgers University in 1981, an M.A. in Sociology from Harvard University in 1986, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University in 1991. His career commenced as a Lecturer in Social Studies at Harvard University from 1991 to 1993. At Yale University, he was Assistant Professor of Sociology from 1993 to 1999, Associate Professor from 1999 to 2003, and Director of Undergraduate Studies from 2001 to 2002. Soares joined Wake Forest University in 2003 as Associate Professor of Sociology, received tenure in 2006, was promoted to Full Professor in 2011, and directed the Undergraduate Honors Program from 2007 to 2010. He chaired the Undergraduate Admissions Committee of Wake Forest College from 2011 to 2012 and the Board of Trustees and President’s Committee on Student Life from 2012 to 2014.

Soares' research addresses education inequality, privilege at elite colleges, and college admissions, particularly the role of standardized tests. His key books include The Decline of Privilege: the Modernization of Oxford University (Stanford University Press, 1999), which won the Prize for Outstanding Book of 2000 from the Culture Section of the American Sociological Association; The Power of Privilege: Yale and America’s Elite Colleges (Stanford University Press, 2007); and SAT Wars: The Case for Test-Optional College Admissions (Teachers College Press, 2011), which he edited. Notable peer-reviewed articles are “Who Goes to Graduate School? Social and Academic Determinants of Matriculation in Master’s, First-Professional, and Ph.D. Programs” with Ann Mullen and Kim Goyette (Sociology of Education, 2003); “The Effects of Racial Self-Identity on College GPA and Student Satisfaction at Very Selective Colleges and Universities” with Meagan Robichaud (International Journal of Educational Studies, 2014); and “Excellence, equity, and diversity: An exploration of the admission goals at selective colleges and universities in the United States” with Yuan Wan (Journal of China University of Geosciences (Social Science Edition), 2017). He has published invited essays such as “Don't Tinker. Toss the SAT” (Inside Higher Ed, 2013) and “#FAIL: The SAT rebrand” (Al Jazeera, 2014). Honors include Harvard’s De Lancey K. Jay Prize for his dissertation (1991), Jacob Javits Fellowship (1987-1990), Krupp Fellowship (1987), Visiting Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University (1989-1990), “Wall of Tolerance” recognition by Rosa Parks and the Southern Poverty Law Center (2001), and inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who in America (2005).