Her scholarly work has primarily focused on the sociology of higher education, in particular innovation and change.
Born Zelda Finkelstein in Philadelphia, Gamson is the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.
[12] The "Seven Principles" continue to be widely circulated in settings such as college teaching and learning centers,[13] as well as in the development of pedagogy [14] and educational technology.
[18] Her latest publication is the memoir Don't Play Like a Girl: A Midcentury Woman Leaps Into Life.
Gamson spent more than seventeen years at the University of Michigan, with appointments at the Institute for Social Research, the Center for the Study of Higher Education, and the Residential College.