Background

Meeta Banerjee received her Ph.D. in Ecological-Community Psychology with a specialization in Applied Developmental Science from Michigan State University in 2012.  As a Jacobs Foundation Pathways to Adulthood postdoctoral fellow, she worked directly with Dr. Jacque Eccles at the University of Michigan and was also an NIH minority postdoctoral scholar.  Prior to her Ph.D., she received her M.S.W. and B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2003 and 2001, respectively. Her research employs both integrative and ecological frameworks to understand the influence of contextual factors on the developmental trajectories in underrepresented minority youth and families.

Research

My research examines the interaction between ecological contexts (e.g., schools, families, neighborhoods, communities and racial discrimination) and parenting practices and how these processes directly and indirectly influence psychosocial and educational outcomes. I am particularly interested how race-related processes in the family (e.g., parental ethnic-racial socialization, parents’ racial identities) influence adjustment in ethnic minority youth.

Three overarching goals guide my work: 1) To describe the influence of contextual factors on parenting goals and practices in ethnic minority families; 2) To elucidate how ethnic-racial socialization may be adaptive for individuals in both race-related and non-race related contexts on youth outcomes; and 3) To explicate how the association between ethnic-racial socialization and context varies as a function of developmental period, from early to late adolescence.

Dr. Banerjee utilizes a variety of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to reach her goals of her work with ethnic minority communities. Additionally, in utilizing community-based participatory research methodologies she has been conducting research in Michigan and California, and is beginning on some new projects in South Carolina.

Representative Publications

Ward, J., & Banerjee, M. (2020). Exploring parent-child agreement on reports of exposure to community violence: Utilizing a latent profile approach. Journal of   Community Psychology 2020;1–16.https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22345

Banerjee, M., Byrd, C.M. & Rowley, S.J. (2018). The relationships of school–based discrimination and racial socialization on African American adolescents’ achievement motivation. Social Sciences, 7(10), 208.

Banerjee, M., Schenke, K., Chang, A., & Eccles, J.S. (2018). STEM vs. Non-STEM careers: Exploring the roles of expectations, experiences and support in the lives of women. International Journal of Gender, Science & Technology Special Issue: Girls' and women's participation in STEM: Past lessons and possible futures, 10(2), 287-307.

Williams, A.D., Banerjee, M., Lozada, F., Lambouths, D. & Rowley, S.J. (2018). African American mothers’ perceptions of the role of race in their children’s education. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79 (4), 932-946. 

Banerjee, M., Rowley, S.J. & Johnson, D.J. (2016). Community violence and racial socialization: Their influence on psychological well-being of African American college students. Journal of Black Psychology, 41(4), 358-383. 

Evans, A., Banerjee, M., Meyer, R., Aldana, A., Foust, M. & Rowley, S.J. (2012). Racial socialization as a mechanism for positive development among African American youth.  Child Development Perspectives, 6 (3), 251-257.

Banerjee, M., Harrell, Z.A.T. & Johnson, D.J. (2011). Ethnic socialization and  parent involvement: Predictors of cognitive performance in African American children. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40 (5), 595-605.