Sarah Gaither, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Michele Alexander Early Career Award. All applications were reviewed by a panel of scholars, both senior and junior, with a wide range of interests and areas of expertise. Gaither's record of scholarship, teaching, and service was described by the committee as the embodiment of this honor, and the congratulatory letter from the award committee, stated: "Your record is impressive and much aligned with the intent of this award and the committee was uniformly impressed with your application."
Gaither's research focuses broadly on how a person’s social identities and experiences across the lifespan motivate their social perceptions and behaviors in diverse settings. More specifically, she studies how contact with diverse others shapes social interactions, how having multiple racial or multiple social identities affects different types of social behavior and categorizations of others, and what contexts shape the development of racial perceptions and biases from childhood through adulthood. Growing up as a biracial Black/white woman is what has fueled her research path. To learn more about Gaither's research visit Duke Identity and Diversity Lab.
Department of Psychology & Neuroscience
