Institute of Diversity Sciences Awards Team Grants for Science and Engineering Research that Promotes Social Justice

The Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS), led by Nilanjana Dasgupta, awarded three new grants to multidisciplinary teams of faculty and student researchers focused on promoting social justice in the science and engineering. From bilingual tutoring software to the safety of public drinking water, the winning teams are working to ensure that STEM research addresses some of society’s most pressing disparities. Here are the winning teams:

• Does a new bilingual tutoring software that tutors math and language (English & Spanish) and uses Latinx digital avatars improve students’ math skills, language skills and feelings of connection to math?

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Ivon Arroyo (education and computer science), Marialuisa Di Stefano (language, literacy, and culture) and Beverly Woolf (computer science) have teamed up to address the growing need for new learning technologies that address the needs of bilingual (Spanish and English) students, with personalized Latinx digital avatars. Addressing the problem of a one-size-fits-all approach to education, this research responds to the need to personalize tech for individual student needs: using alternative languages and representations of content, deploying avatars that reflect their identities, and providing personal pathways through the curriculum.

Read more here.

• At what points in the criminal prosecutorial system do race disparities emerge? Can administrative data from District Attorneys’ offices shed light on this question?

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Youngmin Yi (sociology), Jamie Rowen (legal studies and political science), Joshua Kaiser (sociology), Cindy Xiong (computer science), Guiherme Santos Rocha (undergraduate, sociology and computer science, Amherst College), and Hamza Elhamdadi (graduate student, computer sciences, UMass Amherst) are concerned studying ongoing public concern about racism and other systemic inequalities in the criminal legal system, as exemplified by the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. In response, many criminal legal agencies instituted new reforms to reduce bias and inequality in their operations and to increase their legitimacy in the eyes of constituents. Some district attorneys (DAs) have engaged in particularly strong, public efforts to tackle the disparities in prosecutions, offering various options for those convicted—for instance, diversion from incarceration, or from a criminal record altogether. As part of this “progressive prosecution” agenda, DAs are turning to administrative data not only as a tool to manage cases, but as a resource to assess whether reforms are working. To be more transparent about their process, they also are disseminating data on their practices broadly Yet, there is limited knowledge as to whether these efforts are in fact addressing bias, inequality and public trust in the criminal legal system. Are these data analyses and public dissemination of quantitative information about prosecution effective tools for reform? By being more transparent, are they making the criminal prosecution system more accountable to the public? 

Read more here.

• Do low-income communities in Massachusetts trust the safety and quality of their public drinking water? Where do people get information about their drinking water supply and how does it relate to trust?

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Emily Kumpel (civil and environmental engineering), Airín D. Martínez (health promotion and policy) and Carlos Veras (graduate student, environmental and water resources engineering), are conducting a community-engaged study bridging expertise in water utilities and public health to better understand and address water mistrust. The public’s perception of the safety and quality of their public drinking water—known as water mistrust—is a significant concern in the United States that disproportionately affects the health and wealth of marginalized ethnic/racial communities, low-income, and foreign-born populations. This persistent problem has been exacerbated by COVID-19 pandemic-related financial hardships on both households and water utilities, as well as by climate change. When people don’t trust the water coming from their taps, they turn to unhealthy and more expensive drinking options such as sugar-sweetened beverages or bottled water. Some households even invest in household water treatment systems and filters, incurring additional expenses. What’s more, the purchasing of bottled beverages and water purification supplies creates waste, leading to environmental impacts of water mistrust.

Despite high public mistrust of tap water, experts agree that tap water in the United States is generally very safe. Water from community water systems is regulated and monitored through the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure this. Utilities are required by law to send water safety reports to homes annually. If there are water quality problems that violate the law, utilities must inform the public in a timely manner about its impacts. So why this continued mistrust?

Read more here.