Grazielle is a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology. Her research interests focus on immigration and labor rights, gender, family, and care work, examining the regulation and work of au pairs in the United States through the J-1 visa programs. Her work explores how the State Department, sponsored au pair agencies, and states, like Massachusetts, apply laws to au pairs, given that the program is recognized as “cultural exchange” rather than migrant labor. 

She also studies the contrasting experiences of women and men au pairs as well as the experiences of host parents accounting for different family formations through the lens of gender, sexuality, class, work, and family.

She is the recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the Research Enhancement and Leadership (REAL) Fellowship, which provides her with substantial support for her dissertation research. Grazi received a BA in Sociology (with Honors) and Gender & Sexuality Studies from University of California, Irvine, summa cum laude, in 2018. Grazi’s research interests stem from her personal experiences as an immigrant domestic worker in the United States.