News

Six Faculty named Family Research Scholars

The Center for Research on Families has selected six faculty members as 2006-07 Family Research Scholars, based on their promising work in family-related research.

Michele Budig and Jennifer Hicks Lundquist, assistant professors of sociology, will investigate growing differences in family formation patterns among social groups in the U.S. They will examine links between the trend of declining fertility in high socioeconomic groups and steady rates of nonmarital childbearing in low socioeconomic groups. Their research suggests that socioeconomic opportunity and race shape the “opportunity costs” associated with childbearing.

Brenda Bushouse, assistant professor of political science and public policy, will examine early education and care in the U.S. by analyzing the impacts of different policy designs on program implementation outcomes. The research will inform how governmental action results in dynamic industry change with both intended and unintended consequences.

Nilanjana Dasgupta, assistant professor of psychology, will investigate whether specific features of the social environment, particularly the presence or absence of same-sex professional role models and peers, shape women’s conscious and unconscious beliefs about their abilities, motivation, and interest in careers related to science, math, and technology. How women perceive themselves and the choices they make about their professional lives are likely to have clear implications for the dynamics within families.

Jennifer Foster, assistant professor of nursing, will conduct a two-phase project to reduce maternal mortality in the Dominican Republic. The project will include an assessment of barriers to acceptable quality prenatal care during the first phase, followed by prospectively testing the public health midwifery intervention of case management with linkage to delivery provider in a sample of adolescent pregnant girls in the Dominican Republic.

Maureen Perry-Jenkins, professor of psychology, continues to examine the challenges facing low-income families as they juggle the demands of work and new parenthood. This project builds on an eight-year National Institutes of Health-funded study and will examine how early work conditions of parents are related to parents’ and children’s changes in mental health over time, with an eye towards the ways in which socio-cultural factors shape these relationships.

The Family Research Scholars Program supports faculty in securing grant funding for family-related research while building a multidisciplinary community of campus researchers studying issues of relevance to families. Family Research Scholars participate in a yearlong interdisciplinary seminar which supports the scholars in conceptualizing, writing and submitting their planned grant proposals.The Center for Research on Families actively supports and disseminates social and behavioral sciences research on issues relevant to families. This includes research on individual health and development within families, processes and relationships within families, the social contexts of families, the intersection of family life with other social institutions and social and economic policy that affects the development, productivity, time, health and well-being of families and family members.

May 1, 2006