Spencer Allen '23 publishes Honors Thesis work in Socius

Spencer Allen '23 recently published an extension of his Undergraduate Honors Thesis in Socius. Spencer's thesis, - "(Dis)connected: Internet Access, Health Disparities, and the COVID-19 Pandemic" focused on internet access in the COVID-19 pandemic. His latest publication from his thesis in Socius illuminates how internet access in US households changed between 2013 and 2023. His findings demonstrate that while internet access has increased across the country, that disparities in internet access by race, education, and poverty remain. Spencer's article  "Trends and Disparities in Broadband Internet Access in the United States, 2013 to 2023" was published on August 7, 2025 in Socius. Read the article here: https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231251363238

Spencer Allen (he/him) is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Michigan, where he is also a predoctoral trainee in the Population Studies Center. A budding medical sociologist and social demographer, Spencer's current academic interests lie in understanding what drives disparities in health status and outcomes, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the managing editor of the journal Social Science Research. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Spencer is a first-generation student and received his BA in Sociology from Dartmouth College in 2023