As we know, underrepresented women, particularly African American women face higher rates of stressors. This study considers how Covid19 impacts the mental health of pregnant African American women. Interviews explored the kinds of stressors impacting pregnant African American women during COVID and the social support they receive from family, friends, and employers to cope with these stressors. The study uses a stress process model approach to interpret findings (Pearlin 1981). These findings help us to understand how African American women are coping with the pandemic.

Within Labor Economics, there is a growing literature on peer effect spillovers. Peer effects, in education, examine how a student’s characteristics or innate ability might affect the achievement outcomes of their peers. Within the peer effect literature in post-secondary education, peer groups are often examined within dormitories. The Kent State University dataset used is interesting. In this dataset, peer groups are defined within First Year Experience classrooms, which are mandatory courses taken by freshman students in their first semesters at KSU. First, we distinguish the differences between our two student groups of interest, off and on campus students. We find that there are distinct differences between the two student groups and that the proportion of a student’s class that is on-campus is insignificant for off-campus students. Given these differences, we will then analyze how the quality of student achievement outcomes might affect one another’s grade point average or retention outcomes.

Racism, depression, and everyday stressors negatively affect the mental health of African American men, an understudied demographic. To study this underrepresented group, we made a web-based survey asking male-identifying African Americans a series of questions about experiences of racial discrimination, depressive symptoms, masculinity, racial identity, and demographic. The goal of this study is to see how all these previously mentioned factors affect the willingness of the demographic to seek mental health services on campus. A vast majority of the participants reported never having used mental health services on campus or otherwise. Although this study does not directly benefit the participants, we hope that the data that is collected will help improve access and destigmatize mental health services for African American men on college campuses.

Research suggests that social capital contributes to the stressors that college students face, and stressors can lead to poor mental health, which can impact academic performance and relationships. We hypothesize that the more social capital (i.e., funds, access to information, and connections) a student holds, the less likely they are to experience stressors and poor mental health. Respondents include individuals between the ages 18-25 years old (Target N = 150) in TRIO programs (i.e., Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and McNair Scholars Program). Respondents will complete an online Qualtrics survey. To test the hypotheses, we will examine the correlations between social capital, stressors, and self-rated mental health Implications for meeting the mental health needs of TRIO students will be discussed.

George Floyd’s death came six weeks after the police fatally shot Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, during a midnight “no knock” raid on her home. It came ten weeks after the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, who was chased down by a White father and son in a pickup truck as he jogged in his neighborhood. These deaths seemed to spark the reminiscence, from 400 years ago, of oppression of Black people. During a pandemic that sickened and killed many African Americans, the deaths unleashed a rampage against oppression that became the catalyst for uprisings of people to pour into the streets by protesting and demanding justice and an end to police brutality around the whole world.