Sociology

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Faculty & Staff

Neema Langa

neema-langa.jpg

Assistant Professor of Sociology

Phone: 713.743.4527
Email: nmlanga@uh.edu
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Education

Ph.D., Sociology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
M.A., Sociology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
MBA., Corporate Management, Mzumbe University
B.A., Sociology, University of Dar es Salaam

Biography

Neema Langa is currently an assistant professor of Sociology with a joint appointment in the African American Studies Department. Her research uses quantitative methods to examine structural forces that contribute to heterogeneity in healthcare utilization and health outcomes among African and African American women in underserved communities. She is particularly interested in exploring the role of institutional forces in shaping disparities in maternal health care utilization and outcomes across African countries and the USA. Her research also examines how social inequalities and healthcare experiences shape variations in these women's later-life health outcomes.

Research expertise

  • Sociology of Health and Healthcare
  • Sociology of Gender
  • Sociology of Aging and life-course

Research Interests

  • Maternal Health Inequalities
  • Global Health (USA & Africa)
  • Social Determinants of Health
  • Reproduction
  • Fertility, Aging, and Health

Teaching

  • Gender and Healthcare in Africa, UH                                                            
  • Comparative Health: USA and Africa, UH                                   
  • Aging and Health, UH 

Selected Publications

  1. Langa N., Accepted--In Production. "The Intersecting Structural Inequalities, Women’s Poverty, and Social Justice Initiatives in Tanzania" in the International Handbook of Women and Poverty: Global Essays and Social Justice Initiatives edited by Sheila M. Katz and Laura Livesey, Forthcoming late 2026.
  2. Langa, N., Anderson, K. F., Tuthill, Z. O., Milazzo, A., Sampson, M., Gregory, E., Pilkinton, K. A., *Bennet, R. S., York, F. N., & Walton, Q. L. (2025). Intersecting social inequalities in prenatal and postnatal care: Examining race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. Social Science & Medicine, 384, 118583. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2025.118583 *Bennet is a student
  3. Langa N., Ncho J*., & Carter F*. (2025), Intersecting Fertility: Educational Disparities in Black Older Women’s Health Outcomes. Journal of Women and Aging, https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2025.2484845. Ncho J*., and Carter F* are students.
  4. Langa N., Oyarvide Tuthill Z., & Kutela B. (2025), Unequal Access: Healthcare Disparities in Cervical Cancer Screening among African women,  Journal of Black Studies https://doi.org/10.1177/002193472513135.
  5. Langa, N. (2024). World-Systems Analysis and Postnatal Care Utilization among Periphery Women: The Case of Tanzania (2010–2016). Journal of World-Systems Research, 30(2), 560–582. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2024.1227.
  6. Oyarvide Tuthill, Z., Langa, N., & Sanjana P. (2024). Assessing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pregnant-Related Deaths, Maternal and Child Health Journal, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-024-03944-0.
  7. Langa, N. (2024). Examining the Period-Based Changes in the Effect of Socioeconomic Status in Maternal Healthcare Utilization Across Regional and Residential Contexts in Postcolonial Tanzania (1991–2016). Sociological Focus. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2024.2354450.
  8. Langa, N. (2023). Intersectionality and Dependency Lenses in Neonatal Mortality: Evidence of Regional, Residential, and Socioeconomic Inequalities from Post-colonial Tanzania, 1991–2016. Sociological Perspectives, 66(4). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214231167172.
  9. Langa, N., Bhatta, T., & Amuta, A. (2023). Intersecting Upstream Factors: Inequities in Cervical Cancer Screening in Malawi. Women’s Reproductive Health, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2023.2229308
  10. Langa, N. (2023). Dependency Theory: An Evaluation of the Period-Based Changes in the Utilization of Maternal Health Care and Neonatal Mortality in Tanzania Between 1991 and 2016. International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services (International Journal of Health Services), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/27551938231156033.
  11. Langa, N & Bhatta, T. (2020). The Rural-Urban Divide in Tanzania: Residential Context and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Maternal Health Care Utilization. PLOS ONE, 15(11), e0241746. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241746.
  12. Goler, T. D., Bhatta, T. R.., Lekhak, N., & Langa, N. (2021). Racial Differences in Self-Appraisal, Religious Coping, and Psychological Well-being in Later Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Elder Policy, 1(3), 111–130. https://doi.org/10.18278/jep.1.3.4.