Faculty Bio

Nina Glasgow

Senior Research Associate

332 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-7801
Email: ng14@cornell.edu
Phone: (607) 255-1689

Training

Ph.D. 1982 University of Illinois-Urbana (Sociology)
M.A.  1973 Mississippi State University (Sociology)
B.A.   1971 Mississippi State University (Sociology)

Areas of Interest

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Research

My research program focuses on the sociology of aging, especially aging in rural communities. I am interested in the characteristics of rural older people, as well as the conditions that rural communities and institutional structures impose on rural older people. Much of my work employs life course theory and methods to determine the timing, context, history and trajectories of events and transitions in the lives of older rural residents. Current areas of research include a five-year study on "Transportation and Social Integration of Nonmetropolitan Older Persons," which is funded by the National Institute on Aging and which is designed to answer questions about rural older persons' construction of their transportation arrangements and how those arrangements change over time as older people experience life course transitions such as the death of a spouse, declining health, cessation of driving and/or changes in income. An hypothesized outcome of transportation difficulties is an increased risk of social isolation. The study has confirmed the types of transportation associated with a higher level of social participation versus social isolation, and it has identified who is most at risk of experiencing transportation disadvantage—namely women, older-old and those in poor health.

A related area of research is a focus on the poverty status of rural older people, how rural elderly poverty has persisted over time, who comprises the older rural poor and how rural labor market structures contribute to work careers characterized by cumulative disadvantage and poverty during old age. Findings from Glasgow (1993), Glasgow et al. (1993) and Glasgow and Brown (forthcoming) have shown that rural older people are twice as likely as urban older people to be in poverty. Women, minorities, older-old and those who live alone are at greatest risk of being poor during old age. Labor market segmentation theory, age stratification theory and human capital theory help explain poverty among older rural people.

My future work will build on my strengths in the sociology of aging and life course studies. These include studies of rural minority communities, New York's older population in the 21st Century and family and household decision making around such transitions as stopping driving.

Selected Publications

Glasgow, Nina, Lois Wright Morton and Nan E. Johnson (eds.), Critical Issues in Rural Health. Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

Glasgow, Nina. "Older Rural Families," in Challenges for Rural America in the 21st Century, Brown and Swanson, (eds.). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, (forthcoming).

Glasgow, Nina and Alan Barton. "Older Workers and Retirement in Rural Contexts," in Communities of Work, Falk, Schulman, and Tickamyer, (eds.). Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, (forthcoming).

Glasgow, Nina. "Rural/Urban Patterns of Aging and Caregiving in the United States." Journal of Family Issues 21(5), 2000.

Glasgow, Nina and Robin Blakely. "Older Nonmetropolitan Residents' Evaluations of Their Transportation Arrangements." Journal of Applied Gerontology 19(1), 2000.

Pillemer, Karl, Phyllis Moen, Elaine Wethington, and Nina Glasgow, (eds.). Social Integration in the Second Half of Life. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Pillemer, Karl, Phyllis Moen, Elaine Wethington, and Nina Glasgow. "Introduction," in Social Integration in the Second Half of Life, 2000.

Pillemer, Karl and Nina Glasgow. "Social Integration and Aging: Background and Trends," in Social Integration in the Second Half of Life, 2000.

Wethington, Elaine, Phyllis Moen, Nina Glasgow, and Karl Pillemer. "Multiple Roles, Social Integration, and Health," in Social Integration in the Second Half of Life, 2000.

Glasgow, Nina. "Transportation Transitions and Social Integration of Nonmetropolitan Older Persons, " in Social Integration in the Second Half of Life, 2000.

Glasgow, Nina. "An Intervention to Improve Transportation Arrangements," in Social Integration in the Second Half of Life, 2000.

Pillemer, Karl, Phyllis Moen, Elaine Wethington, Nina Glasgow, and Galyn Vesey. "Closing Thoughts and Future Directions," in Social Integration in the Second Half of Life, 2000.

Glasgow, Nina. "A Rural-Urban Comparison of the Transportation Mobility of Aging Baby Boomers," in Proceedings: International Conference on Projections and Policy Implications for the Issues for Elderly in the 21st Century. Taegu, South Korea: Yeungnam University, 2000.

Glasgow, Nina. "Observations and Research Issues Reported by Nina Glasgow," in Rural Development in Central and Eastern Europe: Conference Proceedings, David Brown and Anna Bandlerova, (eds.). Nitra, Slovakia: Slovak Agricultural University, 2000.

Glasgow, Nina. "New York State's Older Population: Implications for Policy," in New York in the 21st Century, Thomas A. Hirschl and Tim B. Heaton, (eds.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.

Young, Frank W. and Nina Glasgow. "Voluntary Social Participation and Health," Research on Aging, 20(3), 1998.

Glasgow, N. and D. L. Brown. 1998. "Older, rural and poor." In Rural Elders, R. T. Coward and J. A. Krout (eds.). New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Glasgow, N. 1995. "Retirement migration and the use of services in nonmetropolitan counties. Rural Sociology, 60(2): 224-243.

Glasgow, N. 1993. "Poverty among rural elders: Trends, context, and directions for policy. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 12(3): 302-319.

Glasgow, N., K. Holden, D. McLaughlin and G. Rowles. 1993. Pp. 259-291 in Persistent Poverty in Rural America, Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty (ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Glasgow, N. 1991. "A place in the country." American Demographics, March: 24-31.