PAA’s annual meeting features strong Penn State presence
May 9, 2022
Many researchers from Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and Population Research Institute (PRI) participated in the Population Association of America’s (PAA) annual meeting, which took place recently in Atlanta.This year’s conference featured 235 sessions from a variety of…
Disruptive kindergartners are likely to be bullied later in elementary school
May 5, 2022
By Paul Morgan, Professor of Education and Demography, and Director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research, for The ConversationKindergartners who act out, disrupt classrooms, get angry and argue with their teachers are especially likely to be bullied once they reach third, fourth and…
Joint Lerner/PRI Brief - Social Infrastructure (“Third Places”) is Not Distributed Equally Across the U.S.
May 3, 2022
By Danielle Rhubart, Penn State; Yue Sun, Claire Pendergrast, and Shannon M. Monnat, Syracuse UniversityThird places are the physical spaces in a community where people can gather to connect and share resources, support, and information. They can help support health because they promote social…
Gen Z does not dream of labor
May 2, 2022
PRI Associate Director Sarah Damaske was quoted in a Vox.com article about how over the past two years, young millennials and members of Gen Z have created an abundance of memes and pithy commentary about their generational disillusionment toward work. The jokes, which correspond with the rise of…
Save the date for Penn State's 30th Annual Family Symposium, Oct. 24 - 25
Apr 28, 2022
Despite its significance for individuals, families and the larger society, research on family socialization on issues of race/ethnicity and racism remains limited. The goal of Penn State’s 30th annual Family Symposium, "Family Socialization around Race/Ethnicity and Racism: Advancing Understanding…
Black children in Pennsylvania have unequal access to quality preschool
Apr 14, 2022
Black children in Pennsylvania are far less likely than their white peers to have access to quality preschool providers, according to Penn State College of Education researchers.“Gaps in educational resources at a young age are a problem because children’s early learning experiences lay the…
Van Hook quoted in article on Chicago's undocumented seniors
Apr 6, 2022
SSRI cofund and PRI associate Jennifer Van Hook, Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography in the College of the Liberal Arts, was quoted in an article about older adults in Chicago who don't have legal status and are disqualified from federally funded senior housing.Family ties are often…
New initiative on migration forming at Penn State
Apr 6, 2022
In one of the largest mass-migration flows in recent history, approximately 3.4 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since late February. Most are women and children, and many families have been torn apart because the Ukraine State Border Guard Service has prohibited men ages 18 to 60…
Community-Engaged Researcher Survey
Mar 28, 2022
Penn State faculty are invited to participate in a survey as part of a collaborative Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) initiative to strengthen existing and foster new community-academic partnerships in community-engaged…
Penn State social scientists anticipate Ukrainian refugees’ needs, challenges
Mar 24, 2022
In one of the largest mass migration flows in recent history, approximately 3.4 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since late February. Most are women and children, and many families have been torn apart because the Ukraine State Border Guard Service has prohibited men ages 18 to 60…
Challenges of older Pennsylvanians focus of new brief
Mar 22, 2022
Pennsylvania’s population is aging rapidly, and it is estimated that by 2030, one in five residents will be age 65 and older.The issue is important, because as the state’s population ages, the number of adults needing services is expected to increase. In a new policy brief from Penn State’s …
The Covid cloud is starting to lift – but two years on, its legacy of grief lingers
Mar 15, 2022
PRI Associate Ashton Verdery was quoted in this story about the impacts of Covid-19 by The Guardian.Verdery created with colleagues a bereavement multiplier that estimates how many people in the US have lost a close relative to Covid. Given the paucity of historical demographic data for Hispanic…
Santos quoted on underrepresented communities in the census
Mar 12, 2022
SSRI cofund and PRI associate Alexis Santos was recently quoted in an ABC News story about Latino, Black, and Native American communities underrepresented in the 2020 Census.It's important for the bureau to accurately measure how many people are living in the United States; the census determines…
New PPN Brief discusses ambulatory and cognition challenges among older Pennsylvanians
Feb 28, 2022
A new brief from the Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) explores differences in ambulatory and cognition challenges for Pennsylvanians by age group and sex.Authored by Alexis R. Santos, SSRI cofund and assistant professor of human development and family studies, and Raeven Faye Chandler,…
Morgan among top 1% of researchers globally
Feb 28, 2022
Harry & Marion Royer Eberly Fellow and Professor of Education and Demography Paul Morgan is recognized as being among the top 1% of scientists in the world, according to a report from Elsevier BV and Stanford University.Morgan is also a PRI associate and the director for the Center of…
Aging and Disability Services are Unequally Distributed Across the United States
Feb 22, 2022
The U.S. population is aging rapidly, but 15% of U.S. counties have no aging and disability services organizations. This research brief by Syracuse University’s Claire Pendergrast and Penn State's PRI Associate Danielle Rhubart shows that rural counties and counties with the highest rates of…
Researchers examine link between residential and school segregation
Feb 9, 2022
School segregation has remained a hot-button political issue since Brown vs. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the justices ruled that state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional. New research from a Penn State…
Social science policy and communication strategies workshop
Feb 4, 2022
Interested in how to get your work into the hands of policymakers? Want to know how to frame your science to increase its value by decision makers and engage directly with leaders about your science?The Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative (EIC) at Penn State is hosting the virtual workshop “Improving…
Shenk named AAAS Fellow
Jan 31, 2022
Congratulations to PRI Associate Mary Shenk, one of five Penn State faculty members named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society.Story in Penn State News.
Can wearable technology predict the negative consequences of drinking?
Jan 27, 2022
“How much have you had to drink?” might seem like a simple question, but it is not always easy to answer. Although there are general guidelines about responsible alcohol consumption, a person’s level of intoxication depends not only on the number of drinks they consume but also on the alcohol…
Connection to racial identity may boost body image in Black youth
Jan 27, 2022
Adolescence can be a time filled with anxiety and insecurity about body shape and size, but a new Penn State study found that for Black youth, having a strong racial identity may help stave off these worries.The researchers found that among Black youth between the ages of 11 and 19 with high body…
Family Symposium examines intersection of physical environment and family health
Jan 20, 2022
Penn State’s 29th annual Symposium on Family Issues, “Environmental Impacts on Families: Change, Challenge, and Adaptation”, examined the role of the physical environment in family relationships, behaviors, and well-being, with a focus on disasters, climate change, and the built environment.…
Parent-child separation book published
Jan 11, 2022
"Parent-child separation: Causes, consequences and pathways to resilience", the 12th volume in Penn State’s National Symposium on Family Issues book series, was recently published. The book is edited by PRI Director Jennifer Glick, PRI associate Valarie King, and former SSRI Director Susan M.…
Penn State professor named among most influential in shaping education
Jan 10, 2022
Erica Frankenberg, professor of education (educational leadership) and demography at Penn State and director of the Center for Education and Civil Rights, was recently named to the 2022 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings list of top 200 U.S.-based university scholars who influence education…
How understanding neighborhoods can help reduce tobacco use
Jan 4, 2022
A Penn State researcher testing a new way to assess tobacco use with a neighborhood mapping platform and in-person interviews has found that community engagement is key to addressing risky health behaviors.Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United…