David Silverman
People gain valuable skills, knowledge, and resources as a direct factor of their otherwise marginalized identities, including those related to race and economic background. Schools, workplaces, and other focal societal contexts often dismiss these strengths, however, and instead conceptualize people’s marginalized identities as a barrier to their success. My lab’s research examines how such narrow perspectives constrain marginalized communities’ access to opportunity, as well as how to shift these contexts to adopt alternative “strength-based approaches”. We pursue this work using a wide range of methodologies—including laboratory experiments and longitudinal partnership studies with schools across the United States. In this way, our research is consciously designed to both identify practical avenues for achieving social change and pinpoint the psychological, behavioral, and material processes that underlie (in)equity.
Sample Publications