Achievement in Context (AIC) Lab
PI, Tabbye Chavous, PH.D.
Our lab group is committed to the development of research and scholarship that describes and documents the experiences of Black youth and that is informed by knowledge of their rich social, cultural, and historical backgrounds. In doing so, we present a picture of youth that acknowledges their vast diversity, their personal strengths and assets, and the unique risk factors they may face as members of their racial/ethnic group. Equally important is our focus on resources youth draw on - personal strengths and characteristics as well as resources from family, peers, community, and culture - that help them thrive, adapt, and be resilient despite these risks and challenges.
Parenting and Race In Development and Education (P.R.I.D.E) Lab
PI, Stephanie Rowley, PH.D.
The P.R.I.D.E. (Parenting and Race In Development and Education) lab is actively engaged in research on racial identity, parenting, and educational success. We are currently conducting a study on the race-related experiences of African American middle school students and their parents. We are especially interested in learning how the racial messages and behaviors African American parents engage in shape their youths’ racial identity, well-being, and academic achievement.
Contexts of Academic + Social Adjustment (CASA) Lab
Deborah Rivas-Drake, PH.D.
The CASA Lab at the University of Michigan examines school, family, and peer contexts of development – from early adolescence through young adulthood – among diverse youth. We are particularly interested in the role of three ethnic, racial, and cultural processes in the academic and socioemotional outcomes of diverse youth:
Identity: We are interested in how youth make sense of their ethnic/racial identity –how they learn about it at home with their families and at school with their friends – as well as how it changes over time. We also examine how ethnic/racial identity is linkedto academic and social outcomes across adolescence and young adulthood.
Socialization: We examine how families, schools, and peers are settings in which youth are taught explicitly and implicitly about race and ethnicity and how such teachings can support positive youth development in adolescence and young adulthood. We also examine how parents and adolescents come to adopt similar or different cultural values over time.
Discrimination: Many of us are interested in youths’ experiences of explicit discrimination or social exclusion due to their ethnicity/race – primarily to identify factors that protect youth from negative academic and mental health outcomes when they have such experiences.
