Faculty and Staff Profile

A. Stefanie Ruiz

Educational Background

2022 University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. Social Welfare

2017 Hebrew University M.A. Nonprofit Management

2015 ESB Business School B.Sc. Intl. Business

Courses Taught

NPL3000 Foundations in Non-Profit Leadership
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Taught pre-Tenure-Track:
Ethics and the Pursuit of Social Impact
Corporate Social Responsibility

Profile

Stefanie Ruiz is an Assistant Professor at Clemson University’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. Stefanie's research explores minority experiences in majority spaces, and how these experiences impact social identity and integration. She conducts research on nonprofit organizations and volunteerism - particularly immigrant volunteering - with a focus on how participation affects the integration of immigrants into host-country societies. Before graduating with her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, Stefanie received a MA of Nonprofit Management from the Rothberg International School of Hebrew University and a BSc in International Business from ESB Business School in Germany. She has lived in five countries and speaks Spanish and German fluently.

Research Interests

Minority Experiences in Majority Spaces;
Nonprofits; Volunteering; Consequences of Volunteering;
Qualitative Research; Social Theory; Sociology;
Immigrant Integration; Minority Identities

Research Publications

Cicchelli, V., Octobre, S., Katz-Gerro, T., Yodovich, N., Handy, F., & Ruiz, S. (2022). “Because we all love K-Pop”: How young adults reshape symbolic boundaries in Paris, Manchester, and Philadelphia. The British Journal of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12983

Ruiz, A. S., & Ravitch, S. M. (2022, March). (Re)Conceptualizing Definitions from the Inside: Underrepresented Groups in Overrepresented Research. Methodspace Brought to You by SAGE Publishing. https://www.methodspace.com/blog/reconceptualizing-definitions-from-the-inside-underrepresented-groups-in-overrepresented-research

Ruiz, A.S., Ravitch, S.M. Influences of (Non)Engagement in Volunteering: First-Generation Immigrant Perceptions of Integration into US Society. VOLUNTAS (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00469-4

Ruiz, A. S., Wang, L., & Handy, F. (2021). Integration and volunteering: The case of first-generation immigrants to Canada. Voluntary Sector Review. https://doi.org/10.1332/204080521X16319931902392

Heist, H. D., Cnaan, R., & Ruiz, A. S. (2020). The Emigration of Pro-social Behaviors: A comparative analysis of Colombian and US Latter-day Saints. VOLUNTAS. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-020-00243-4

Ruiz, A. S., & Greenspan, I. (2019). Relational Interactions Between Immigrant and Native-Born
Volunteers: Trust-Building and Integration or Suspicion and Conflict? VOLUNTAS, 30(5), 932–946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-019-00108-5

Honors and Awards

2021 Certificate in: College and University Teaching – University of Pennsylvania
Participation in teaching workshops, external observations, and review of teaching skills

2021 Certificate in: The Science of Generosity – Do Good Feel Good
Participation in PennX, an online learning initiative of the University of Pennsylvania

2021 Social Welfare Summer Funding Award of $4,000 – University of Pennsylvania

2020 Social Welfare Summer Funding Award of $6,100 – University of Pennsylvania

2020 2020 ARNOVA Doctoral Fellow Award
Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action conference

2017 2017 ARNOVA Emerging Scholar Award
Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action conference