IUPUC professor to study racial equality activism in students

An IUPUC professor will be studying the support that youth activists for racial equality receive from schools, the community and other factors.

The university is announcing that Dr. Stephanie Serriere, received a research grant from the Indiana University Racial Justice Research Fund to study South Central Indiana students 8 to 18 years old who are active in the Black Lives Matter movement or other racial equity projects. After a survey, there will be interviews for some of the respondents.

Bartholomew County’s Council for Youth Development will be supporting the study, by determining relevant survey/interview items and initiating the contact with area youth activists.

Serriere’s research will help provide anti-racist frameworks for teacher preparation programs in K-12 schools across the state. She says that the public school system serves a civic mission to prepare citizens with the skills and knowledge to participate in a diverse democracy. She said that Americans who are not properly educated about their roles as citizens are less likely to be civically engaged.