Anjali Adukia, COSAS member and Assistant Professor in the Harris School of Public Policy and the College, has been awarded an Early Career Award from the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE). The award recognizes excellence in research, contributions of research to educational practice and participation in SREE. Three individuals including Professor Adukia were awarded for 2023.
Additionally, in April of 2023, Adukia published her most recent paper entitled “What We Teach About Race and Gender: Representation in Images and Text of Children’s Books” (with A. Eble, E. Harrison, H.B. Runesha, T. Szasz) in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.
“We find underrepresentation of Black and Latinx people in the most influential books, relative to their population shares, though representation of Black individuals increases over time. Females are also increasingly present but appear less often in text than in images, suggesting greater symbolic inclusion in pictures than substantive inclusion in stories. Characters in these influential books have lighter average skin color than in other books, even after conditioning on race, and children are depicted with lighter skin color than adults on average. We then present empirical analysis of related economic behavior to better understand the representation we find in these books. On the demand side, we show that people consume books that center their own identities, and that the types of children’s books purchased correlate with local political beliefs. On the supply side, we document higher prices for books that center non-dominant social identities and fewer copies of these books in libraries that serve predominantly White communities.”
The paper has gotten significant press attention [Time Magazine, School Library Journal, Wall Street Journal, Inequalitalks, FutureEd, The 74, ParentData, New York Times, The Economist].
Adukia and her team also published shorter op-ed style blog post versions [Brookings Chalkboard, IZA Article] of the study.
Professor Adukia also recently published a working paper from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics entitled “From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice” (with B. Feigenberg, F. Momeni).
“This study examines Chicago Public Schools’ adoption of RP (Restorative Practices). We identify decreased suspensions, improved school climate, and find no evidence of increased classroom disruption.”
The working paper has also received significant press coverage [Washington Post, Chalkbeat, WGN TV, WBEZ, The Pie podcast, Outside the Loop Radio, Block Club Chicago, Chicago Sun Times].
Congratulations, Professor Adukia, on all of your recent accomplishments!