About

Molly Spencer is a poet, critic, editor, and writing instructor at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Her debut poetry collection, If the House, won the 2019 Brittingham Prize judged by Carl Phillips, and her second collection, Hinge, was a finalist for the National Poetry Series and won the 2019 Crab Orchard Open Competition judged by Allison Joseph. Her latest collection, Invitatory, won the 2022 New Measure Poetry Prize and was published in 2024. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals including Blackbird, Copper Nickel, FIELD, The Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, New England Review, Ploughshares, and Prairie Schooner. In addition to her poetry, her critical writing and essays have been published in Colorado Review, The Georgia Review, Kenyon Review online, Literary Hub, West Branch, The Writer's Chronicle, and The Rumpus, where she served as a poetry editor from 2016 to 2024. She has received several awards, including a Lucile Medwick Award from the Poetry Society of America, a Glenna Luschei Award from Prairie Schooner, a Writers@Work Fellowship Award, and a faculty fellowship from the University of Michigan's Institute for the Humanities. Dr. Spencer holds an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop, an MPA from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame. She teaches graduate and undergraduate policy writing courses at the Ford School, with a focus on writing in policy change, social media, and persuasive policy writing.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Psychology
• Chemistry
• Gerontology
• Business

Selected publications

• Introduction: The future of race, ethnicity, and culture in social work: challenges and opportunities

  2026-05-05

  book-chapterSenior author

  The issue around race, ethnicity and culture is confronted with unprecedented debates and intense tension nationally. Globally, the world is also changing constantly and rapidly in many ways. Social work as a profession and as a discipline has long distinguished itself as ethically bound to stand for social justice. The spirit of this Special Issue is to create an intellectual space for us to imagine or re-imagine what the future of race, ethnicity and culture would look like and the opportunities they hold for social work practice, research, and education. Despite challenges, it will be important for us to understand the current landscape, look into the potential future development and challenges so that the social work profession can act on creative, preventive, and innovative solutions that will promote racial and social justice as well as embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion.

  PublisherDOI

• The Future of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Social Work

  2026-05-05

  bookSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Structured Happenstance: Pathways Toward Upward Mobility Among First-Generation Latine College Students

  Social Sciences · 2025-10-27 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Higher education is often positioned as a pathway to upward social mobility, yet access to highly selective universities (HSUs) remains limited, with first-generation college (FGC) students from low-income and ethnoracially minoritized backgrounds disproportionately constrained by structural barriers. This study applies an asset-based lens to examine how a cross-generational team of six Latine FGC affiliates of an HSU (i.e., alumni, doctoral students, professor) resiliently persisted in their educational and professional journeys, leveraging cultural and social capital. Employing Chicana/Latina feminist methodology and dialogic inquiry, we engaged in pláticas to critically reflect on factors that shaped our life trajectories. Findings reveal that social mobility was negotiated collectively rather than individually, highlighting tensions between personal advancement and commitments to family and community. We also consider the role of structured happenstance in pivotal encounters (e.g., being recognized by mentors, recruited by scholarship programs) that appeared serendipitous but were situated within systems where opportunity is inequitably distributed. Structured happenstance exposes the precariousness of such pathways and systemic gaps in FGC student support, challenging the notion that access to elite, capital-rich institutions is the product of merit alone. Our narratives offer a nuanced portrait of how FGC students navigate social mobility across the life course.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The future of race, ethnicity, and culture in social work: challenges and opportunities

  Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work · 2025-10-23 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Mental health conditions and equitable access to chronic pain rehabilitation

  British Journal of Pain · 2025-09-13

  editorialOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Five-Step Focusing Process

  2024-10-10

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Stanley Furniture Company, Stanleytown, Virginia

  2024-10-10

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Production Planning and Control Framework

  2024-10-10

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Anti-racist and inclusive mentoring in social work doctoral education

  Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work · 2024-12-12

  article
  PublisherDOI

• The Constraints Management Handbook

  2024-10-10 · 125 citations

  bookSenior author

  A new approach to improving the production of goods and services, Constraints Management (CM), recognizes the powerful role of the constraint (the limiting resource) in determining the output of the entire production system. By learning about and mastering CM concepts, managers can improve their companies' present output and plan for future growth as well.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R18DK078558

  NIH · $2.8M · 2014

Frequent coauthors

• David T. Takeuchi

  45 shared

• Edith C. Kieffer

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  43 shared

• Brandy Sinco

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  40 shared

• Michele Heisler

  Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

  34 shared

• Gloria Palmisano

  33 shared

• Nolan Zane

  25 shared

• Margarita Alegrı́a

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  25 shared

• Seunghye Hong

  University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

  25 shared

Labs

• Gerald R. Ford School of Public PolicyPI

Education

• BA, Psychology

  University of Hawaii System

• PhD, Social Welfare

  University of Washington

• MSSW, Social Work

  University of Texas System

Awards & honors

• Brittingham Prize (2019)
• Crab Orchard Open Competition (2019)
• New Measure Poetry Prize (2022)
• Lucile Medwick Award from the Poetry Society of America
• Glenna Luschei Award from Prairie Schooner