Prior to coming to the University of Iowa for graduate school, Megan Ronnenberg was working as a childcare provider and experienced the struggles felt by families and providers.

She saw how parents struggling to pay for childcare along with other necessities, worked in tandem with the obstacles childcare providers face. The stress also unintentionally created a harsher environment for children. It was then that Ronnenberg realized this was an area where she wanted to make a difference.

Now a visiting faculty member, and soon an assistant professor on tenure-track this fall, Ronnenberg’s research focuses on the intersection between inequalities experienced by childcare providers and the families they care for. Having worked in the childcare field, she was already familiar with the industry language, the kinds of programs and assistance available, and how funding is directed. She also was able to develop longstanding relationships with childcare centers in the area, as well as childcare support agencies and social services.

“I think that it would've been difficult for me to go somewhere else and do this work fresh when I’ve already got all of these well-established relationships here.”

All of this came together first in her dissertation, which examined racial and economic disparities in suspension and expulsion from private childcare centers in Iowa. Ronnenberg’s dissertation helped her identify the complexities surrounding decisions that can disproportionately affect specific students of color and low-income households. She also discussed how factors such as funding and administration, not even childcare providers, are given access to.  

“When I started graduate school and learned about these issues more in depth, I realized I had seen those in my day-to-day work as a childcare provider.” 

In her role with the School of Social Work, Ronnenberg is currently evaluating a program in Johnson County that increases childcare workers’ wages by two dollars an hour. As the study goes into 2026, the wage enhancement program so far is helping childcare providers have better access to food and housing. Ronnenberg is optimistic the pay increase is helping people with their finances.

She advises anyone interested in research that there is room for everybody. As a first-generation college student, Ronnenberg recalls the intimidation and imposter’s syndrome she initially felt when starting her MSW. But so much of that melted away when she took her first research class, and she hopes her students can feel the same way. 

“We need different perspectives and all kinds of voices in the social work research world.”