Dr. Simula's research focuses on how individuals create meanings and develop identities through interactions with others.
In one line of research, she focuses on the intersections of gender, sexualities, and identities, exploring how individuals draw on and resist dominant cultural meanings surrounding gender and sexuality. Publications from this line of research appear in Sexualities, the Journal of Homosexuality, the Journal of Bisexuality, and Sociology Compass, as well as in edited volumes on identities and inequalities. Also in this line of scholarship, is (with J.E. Sumerau and Andrea Miller) of Expanding the Rainbow: Exploring the Relationships of Bi+, Pan, Asexual, Polyamorous, Kinky, Intersex, and Trans People (co-edited with J.E. Sumerau and Andrea Miller). Dr. Simula is the guest editor of the Gender and Identities special issue of Social Sciences (2019) and of the BDSM special issue of Sexualities (2020). She is also at work on an edited volume on kink identities and communities under contract with Oxford University Press.
In a second line of research, Dr. Simula investigates the career experiences and identity processes of PhDs. In one study in this area, (with Dr. Tracy Scott), she explored how the changing landscape of the modern American academy influences faculty experiences of research and the identity work faculty engage in. In a second study in this area (with Dr. Jessi Bishop-Royse), she investigates the career paths and outcomes of PhDs employed in higher ed careers beyond the professoriate.
Dr. Simula also writes and publishes on a variety of career and professional development topics for PhDs and PhDs-to-be.
In one line of research, she focuses on the intersections of gender, sexualities, and identities, exploring how individuals draw on and resist dominant cultural meanings surrounding gender and sexuality. Publications from this line of research appear in Sexualities, the Journal of Homosexuality, the Journal of Bisexuality, and Sociology Compass, as well as in edited volumes on identities and inequalities. Also in this line of scholarship, is (with J.E. Sumerau and Andrea Miller) of Expanding the Rainbow: Exploring the Relationships of Bi+, Pan, Asexual, Polyamorous, Kinky, Intersex, and Trans People (co-edited with J.E. Sumerau and Andrea Miller). Dr. Simula is the guest editor of the Gender and Identities special issue of Social Sciences (2019) and of the BDSM special issue of Sexualities (2020). She is also at work on an edited volume on kink identities and communities under contract with Oxford University Press.
In a second line of research, Dr. Simula investigates the career experiences and identity processes of PhDs. In one study in this area, (with Dr. Tracy Scott), she explored how the changing landscape of the modern American academy influences faculty experiences of research and the identity work faculty engage in. In a second study in this area (with Dr. Jessi Bishop-Royse), she investigates the career paths and outcomes of PhDs employed in higher ed careers beyond the professoriate.
Dr. Simula also writes and publishes on a variety of career and professional development topics for PhDs and PhDs-to-be.