about erykah

Erykah Benson (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan. Having grown up in Japan, Dubai, and the Midwest region of the United States, Erykah brings together her multicultural experiences to light in her scholarship. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and an affiliate of the University of Michigan Population Studies Center.

In her research, Erykah primarily focuses on how technology shapes Americans’ attitudes toward social inequality and the meaning they attach to work. Her survey-based research on public attitudes toward reparations has been published in the Russell Sage Foundation Journal of Social Sciences.

Tangible Research Insights

Erykah is passionate about translating her research into free reports with information that is applicable to ongoing societal problems. As a research fellow for the Ford School of Public Policy Center for Racial Justice, Erykah has published a series of free policy reports with actionable recommendations related to food access, economic well-being, and reparations. Her work has been featured on multiple local media venues in Michigan, including CBS News Detroit, Bridge Detroit, and Axios Detroit.

Merging Social Science Research with Tech Design

As a member of the Bodies, Identities, Intimacies, and Technologies (BIIT) Lab, Erykah has worked as a freelance user experience social science researcher for a dating app company, collaborating with app designers to ensure inclusive and ethical design for app members with marginalized identities.

Dissertation

Erykah’s dissertation focuses on Black small business owners, focusing on how technology and economic uncertainty shape their career identities and aspirations toward entrepreneurship. This dissertation uses qualitative interviews to show how technologies like artificial intelligence, social media, and online webstores help to shape Black entrepreneurs’ ideas about productivity, work-life balance, and economic well-being.

Erykah guest lecturing for a public policy class at the University of Michigan, January 2024.

Erykah serving on a panel about pay transparency for artists at an installation created by journalist Makeda Easter, December 2024.

Erykah with mentees of the of the Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE), a social science research program run by the Youth Policy Lab, July 2024.

I focus on how technology influences the meanings we attach to our work. From side hustlers to full-time entrepreneurs, I examine how technologies help to shape what it means to “be your own boss” in the digital age.