Paul DiMaggio

By Sara L. Austin, EdD

Paul Joseph DiMaggio is a professor of sociology at New York University and A. Barton Hepburn Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. He earned his B.A. from Swarthmore College, and his M.A. and Ph.D in sociology from Harvard University.

DiMaggio’s body of work has included social inequality, the advent of “high culture”, and organizational structures. His work suggests that organizational behavior is driven less by efficiency and more by the desire for the approval of outside stakeholders. Faced with this tension, organizations stifle creativity and innovation and make suboptimal decisions that only appear beneficial on their face, but are in fact counter to the best interests of the organization.

In his examination of the concept of “high culture” he found that when class distinctions are, or appear to be, weakened, society finds other ways of differentiating higher class, such as through the patronage of the arts or membership in prestigious social clubs.

Previously, he has been a fellow at the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has also served on the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and was the executive director of Yale’s program on nonprofit organizations.

Academic Website

Featured in Top Influential Sociologists Today