Equity

Arion Lillard-Green earns a spot in Public Voices Fellowship at AcademyHealth

Taylor Thomas — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 14:32:53 +0000

Arion Lillard-Green earns a spot in Public Voices Fellowship at AcademyHealth Taylor Thomas Mon, 12/11/2023 - 09:32

Congratulations to Arion Lillard-Green, a Health Services Research doctoral student, for earning a spot in the second cohort of the Public Voices Fellowship at AcademyHealth. This fellowship, conducted in collaboration with The OpEd Project, is dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices in public health, research, and social justice. Lillard-Green's inclusion highlights her dedication to health services research. The fellowship's objective is to redefine historical narratives and nurture a more equitable world.

Learn more about Lillard-Green’s desire to bring journalism, theology, and health administration together here.

The Public Voices Fellowship empowers fellows to contribute thought leadership pieces to mainstream media outlets, thereby influencing public discourse on critical issues in health and healthcare. The curriculum delves into themes of authority, equity, innovation, and action in an unfair world. Fellows receive training and coaching from seasoned journalists and editors through The OpEd Project.

AcademyHealth strives to advance impactful and equitable health services research and policy and remains committed to fostering a diverse array of voices that can drive positive change in the landscape of health research.

Topics

AcademyHealth

Health Services Research

PhD in Health Services Research

NSF grant supports equity in marine and climate sciences

Colleen Rich — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 14:10:17 +0000

NSF grant supports equity in marine and climate sciences Colleen Rich Thu, 09/28/2023 - 10:10

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded ��AV researcher Chrystal George Mwangi and colleagues a combined $2.3 million to advance collaborations for equity in marine and climate sciences.

Chrystal George Mwangi. Photo provided

“Marine and climate sciences (MCS) are some of the least diverse STEM disciplines,” said George Mwangi, who teaches in Mason’s Higher Education Program. “Implications from the lack of racial diversity in particular are troubling when considering the importance of MCS in mitigating today’s environmental sustainability challenges.”

The project, titled Advancing Collaborations for Equity in Marine and Climate Sciences, is a collaborative partnership between multiple institutions, which includes Jennifer Johnson of Temple University, Vijay Kanagala of Salem State University, Onjalé Scott Price of the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program, and Christina Yao of University of South Carolina.

As principal investigator, George Mwangi will lead this three-year project to examine what processes are employed for developing equity-driven educational collaborations, infrastructures, and pathways in MCS. This research project will investigate the Woods Hole Collaborative Network, a Massachusetts-based multi-organizational collaboration between six predominantly white institutions.

She said the study will provide an analysis of processes for developing anti-racist and equity-driven educational collaborations, infrastructures, and pathways into MCS. The overarching goal is to develop a transformative model focused on partnership- and infrastructure-building efforts for anti-racism and equity in the discipline that can be replicated and scaled for other MCS collaborations and interventions.

“We are focused on advancing change in structures and sociocultural practices in MCS that can improve their racial equity outcomes,” she said.

This collaborative project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education activities, which supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of STEM education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise.

Topics

Research

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

National Science Foundation

Equity

Tharuna Kalaivanan

Daniel Hyunbin Chung — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 14:31:55 +0000

Tharuna Kalaivanan Daniel Hyunbin Chung Thu, 01/27/2022 - 09:31

Instructor & Graduate Professional Assistant, Honors College

Instructor, Honors College

PhD Student, Sociology

Lead Research Mentor, Social Science Research Lab

Contact Information

Email: tkalaiva@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-1110
Mail Stop: Honors College, MSN 1F4
Campus: Fairfax
Office: Buchanan Hall 205

Personal Websites

Biography

Tharuna Kalaivanan is a PhD student in the Public and Applied Sociology Program at ��AV. She graduated from ��AV with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2020. She is also an Honors College Alum. Currently she is an Instructor and Graduate Professional Assistant in the Honors College. She is also a Lead Research Mentor in the Social Science Research Lab (SSRL) led by Dr. Blake Silver. The SSRL is a multi-disciplinary lab that uses team-based social science research to understand student experiences in higher education. Her research interests include immigrants and how their experiences are shaped by race, ethnicity, and other dimensions of identity in higher education and the workplace. Currently she serves as the Secretary in the Public Sociology Association where she plays an active role in encouraging students to explore, learn, and do public sociology through pursuits devoted to activism around social problems on-campus and beyond.

Research

Kalaivanan's research interests include first-generation college students and students with immigrant backgrounds, focusing on their experiences in higher education and the workplace.

Education

BS, Psychology, ��AV (2020)

Publications

Kalaivanan, Tharuna, Blake. R. Silver, Lily Krietzberg, and Bianca Kwan. Forthcoming. “The Senior-Year Transition: Gendered Experiences of Second-Generation Immigrant College Students” Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education Silver, Blake, Lily Krietzberg, and Tharuna Kalaivanan. Forthcoming. “Transitioning Out: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Students’ Concerns in the Senior Year” Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition Silver, Blake R., Freddy Lopez, Fanni Farago, and Tharuna Kalaivanan. 2021. “Focused, Exploratory, or Vigilant: Reproduction, Mobility, and the Self-Narratives of Second-Generation Immigrant Youth.” Qualitative Sociology. doi: 10.1007/s11133-021-09489-w. Silver, Blake R., Freddy Lopez, Tharuna Kalaivanan, and Lily Krietzberg. 2021. “Second-Generation Immigrant Students and the Senior-Year Transition.” Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice 58(4):388–400. doi: 10.1080/19496591.2020.1789467. Silver, Blake R., Tharuna Kalaivanan, Lily Krietzberg, and Jordan Hawkins. 2020. “Distance, Alignment, and Boundaries: How Second-Generation Immigrant College Seniors Negotiate Parental Involvement.” Journal of College Student Development 61(5):558–73. doi: http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1353/csd.2020.0055.

Grants and Fellowships

OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. “How Racialization Affects First-generation Asian-American’s Perception of Organizational Commitment and Identification” PI: Tharuna Kalaivanan. (8/2019-12/2019). OSCAR Undergraduate Student Travel Fund. “How Racialization Affects First-generation Asian-American’s Perception of Organizational Commitment and Identification” PI: Tharuna Kalaivanan. (2020). OSCAR Undergraduate Student Travel Fund. “Distance, Alignment, and Boundaries: How Second-Generation Immigrant Seniors Negotiate Parental Involvement”. PI: Tharuna Kalaivanan. (2019). OSCAR Undergraduate Student Travel Fund. “Supporting First-Generation American College Students in the Senior-Year Transition”. PI: Tharuna Kalaivanan. (2019).

Classes

HNRS 110: Principles of Research and Inquiry
HNRS 131: First-gen College Students

Panel: Women and Minorities in the Workforce and the Way Ahead

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 15:12:34 +0000

Panel: Women and Minorities in the Workforce and the Way Ahead Andrew J Schappert Wed, 09/22/2021 - 11:12

The Schar School of Policy and Government’s Gender and Policy (GAP) Center and LMI, a Tysons, Va.-based consultancy, will host “Today’s Workforce and the Way Ahead,” a panel discussion exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and minorities in the workforce. The panel will cover policy and personal well-being perspectives, as well as examine the future of a hybrid workforce.

The discussion begin Tuesday, September 28 at noon. Registration is not required. Those interested should simply follow this link on the date and time aforementioned.

The panelists include:

Emily Martin, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center. Prior to joining NWLC, Martin served as deputy director of the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Maryam Ovissi, a trauma-informed yoga and wellbeing specialist and collective care educator at Beloved Yoga’s Yoga Therapy program. Ovissi serves on the board of the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art and the Southgate Community Center and is on the advisory board of the Gender and Policy Center.
Ahkesha Murray, principal for change management, culture, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI&A) at LMI. Murray oversees all aspects of LMI’s DEI&A strategy and programs and acts as the organization’s recognized change management and culture authority.

The panel will be moderated by Schar School associate professor and associate dean of student and academic affairs Bonnie Stabile. She also serves as the director of the Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) program and is founder and director of the Gender and Policy (GAP) Center at the Schar School.

The panel is sponsored by LMI’s Minorities & Ethnicities (ME) Affinity Group, LMI Women’s Forum Affinity Group, and LMI Research Institute’s Academic Programs in collaboration with the Gender and Policy Center at the Schar School.

Topics

Schar School News September 2021