Brown’s scholarship examines the political origins and consequences of social inequality with a particular focus on immigration and race relations. Her recent work has appeared in such journals as the American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, and Social Problems. Her various research projects have been supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and the National Science Foundation and have received awards from multiple sections of the American Sociological Association. She received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011. During the 2015-2016 academic year, she was a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for African-American Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.