Researching Racial Equity
J-PAL North America is catalyzing rigorous research on the drivers and mechanisms of racism and discrimination through ethical, theory-driven randomized evaluations. Through this research, we aim to identify policies and interventions that promote justice and fairness.
We advance this work by:
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Supporting research through funding, research management support, and resource development
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Building partnerships with organizations, associations, and researchers seeking to advance racial equity research
Motivation
Long-standing racial differences in economic and social outcomes in the United States are deeply rooted in historical injustices, discriminatory policies, and unequal access to resources and opportunities. There are many reviews of racial inequality reporting differences in labor market outcomes, geographic and economic mobility, earnings, and wealth. Racial inequities extend to other markers of well-being such as health, safety, and educational attainment. As a stark illustration, Black women who have graduated college are nearly two times as likely to die in childbirth as white women who have not graduated from high school. The persistent nature of racial inequity suggests that past and current policy approaches aiming to remedy racial disparities have not been sufficient. Policymakers need clear and credible evidence that may disrupt the stark racial inequities in the United States.
Defining Terms
Race
As is prevalent in the literature, we define race as a social construct and not as a biological fact. Race is projected onto biological and cultural traits with the purpose of achieving broader social and political goals, as evidenced by changing racial categories throughout history.1 Race is socially constructed, but that does not mean race is not real. Members of racial groups make meaning of the categories they have been placed in; a cultural group may become racialized or people with a common experience become racialized and form a shared identity. While ethnicity is sometimes treated as a distinct concept from race, many ethnic groups share characteristics with racial groups. In the US context, there is not a clean distinction between ethnicity and race, and in academic spheres ethnic groups may be interpreted as racialized.
1 Francis, Dania V., Bradley L. Hardy, and Damon Jones. "Black economists on race and policy: Contributions to education, poverty and mobility, and public finance." Journal of Economic Literature 60, no. 2 (2022): 454-493
Racial Equity
We define racial and ethnic equity as the process of ensuring that race is no longer used to reinforce social hierarchies. Racial equity does not imply the absence of racial group identities, communities, or cultural traditions, but that such aspects are not used against individuals or groups in social, political, and legal domains. This process involves acknowledging and addressing historic harms and racial injustices, making amends, working to create racially just systems, policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages, and eliminating structures that reinforce differential outcomes by race.2
2 Hawn Nelson, A., Jenkins, D., Zanti, S., Katz, M., Berkowitz, E., et al. (2020). A Toolkit for Centering Racial Equity Throughout Data Integration. Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania.
Projects
Disentangling Sources of Bias: Evidence from Advanced Placement Course Recommendations
Reducing Racial Disparities in Bail Decisions: An Experiment on Public Accountability and Feedback in Texas
Impacts of Demand-Driven Workforce Development
Preferences over Outcomes or Process? Moderating Backlash to Indigenous-Language Landmark Names in the United States
A Randomized Trial to Identify the Effects of Provider Race on the Health Behavior of Black Men
Tools and Resources
Building Partnerships
We are interested in collaborating with researchers and organizations with expertise in racial equity research and/or who have an interest in engaging in this research.
If you have any questions about the Researching Racial Equity Project, are interested in partnering with us, or would like to learn more, please contact [email protected].
Racial Equity Advisory Committee
This work is led by Damon Jones (University of Chicago), Scientific Advisor for Racial Equity for J-PAL North America, and our Racial Equity Advisory Committee (REAC) members.
Current members
- Gerald Daniels (Howard University)
- Dania Francis (University of Massachusetts Boston)
- Rob Gillezeau (University of Toronto)
- Silvia Robles (Mathematica)
- Corinne Low (University of Pennsylvania)
- Angelino Viceisza (Spelman College)
Past members
- Randall Akee (University of California, Los Angeles)
- Courtney Bonam (University of California, Santa Cruz)
J-PAL North America Project Staff
- Noreen Giga, Senior Research Manager
- Sarah Margolis, Senior Initiatives Manager
- Laura Ruiz-Gaona, Research Manager
- Mica Chua, Policy Associate