Mara Getz Sheftel
she/her
Mara Getz Sheftel is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Population Research Institute at Pennsylvania State University. She works in the Crossnational Aging Research Lab (CARL) with PIs Ashton Verdery and Rachel Margolis (Western University) and is a Visiting Research Collaborator at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University. In the Fall of 2024 Mara is excited to join Rutgers University with appointments at the School of Public Health and the Institute for Health.
Mara is a sociologist and demographer who uses a life course perspective to study new drivers of stratification for aging adults. Her research has been published in Demography,
Population Research & Policy Review, and the Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, among other peer-reviewed journals.
With a background in mentorship and service-learning, Mara is an experienced and enthusiastic educator.
Research
Mara's research investigates drivers of older adult stratification across the life course in three domains: (1) distinct structural and social determinants of health for older Latinos, (2) rising socioeconomic stratification and occupational segregation, and (3) changing family structure and intergenerational support.
She comes to this field with an interdisciplinary background spanning Sociology, Demography, Public Policy and International Studies. Mara's research is aimed at informing policies and services to improve population health and functioning for older adults.
Mara's research has been published in Demography, Journal of Gerontology Social Sciences, Demographic Research, and Population Review among other peer reviewed journals and presented at the Population Association of America (PAA), American Sociological Association (ASA), and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meetings.
Structural & social determinants of health for older Latinos
Mara uses large scale survey data to document prevalence of disability and cognition within Latino subgroups in the US and explores sources of heterogeneity in health trajectories including selection mechanisms, early life conditions, and immigrant documentation status.
Rising socioeconomic stratification & occupational segregation
Mara looks at the consequences of socioeconomic stratification and occupational segregation across the life course for the health and well-being of older adults, investigating sources of wealth stratification among immigrant population in the US and the long term impact of labor market segregation on older age cognitive disparities by race/ethnicity and nativity.
Changing family structure and intergenerational support
Mara looks at the role of family structures and intergenerational support in older adult health outcomes within the US and through a crossnational comparative framework.
Recent Publications
Sheftel, Mara Getz. 2024. "Return Migration and Disability by Life Course Stage of Return: Evidence Against the Salmon Bias." The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 79(3), 1-11 [link to paper]
Sheftel, Mara Getz, Rachel Margolis and Ashton Verdery. 2024. "Life Events and Loneliness Transitions Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults Around the World.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 79(1), 1-10. [link to paper]
Sheftel, Mara Getz and Frank W. Heiland. 2024. “The role of place of birth and residence in health disparities: Evidence from disability prevalence among Island- vs. mainland-born Puerto Ricans.” The Journal of Aging and Health 36(1-2), 67-84. [link to paper]
Sheftel, Mara Getz. 2023. "Immigrant wealth stratification and return migration: The case of Mexican immigrants in the US during the 20th Century." Demography 60(3):809–835. [link to paper]
Sheftel, Mara Getz, Rachel Margolis and Ashton Verdery. 2023. "Health across borders: A crossnational comparison of immigrant health in Europe." Population Research and Policy Review, 42(30). [link to paper]
Sheftel, Mara Getz, Anne R. Pebley, Noreen Goldman, Boriana Pratt, and Sung S. Park. 2023. “Cognitive health disparities by race, ethnicity and nativity: The role of occupational complexity.” Work, Aging, and Retirement. [link to paper]
Graduate Instruction
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Multivariate Statistics
Teaching Assistant to Prof. Juan Battle, Spring 2016
Introduction to Statistics
Teaching Assistant to Prof. Jeremy Porter, Fall 2015
Contact
msheftel(at)psu(dot)edu @MaraSheftel