Ph.D. Candidate
she/her/hers
About
Erykah Benson is a Sociology Ph.D. Candidate studying the changing dynamics of racism and technology.
As a NICHD Population Studies Center Trainee and Center for Racial Justice Research Fellow, Erykah uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study views toward racial inequity, reparations, economic well-being, and entrepreneurship.
As an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Erykah studies patterns of consumerism in Detroit, Michigan, and how access to food delivery technologies relate to patterns of residential segregation in the city, using data from the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study.
As an Anti-Racism Collaborative Scholar, Erykah studies experiences of Black creative entrepreneurs and gig workers who sell art online. She employs theoretical perspectives on racial capitalism and economic sociology to understand racialized experiences in the platform gig economy.
Her work has appeared on various platforms, including The Detroit Free Press, Bridge Detroit, and CBS News Detroit.