Dr. Jason Okonofua is a professor at Brown University. Before assuming this position, he attend Northwestern University and Stanford University for his undergraduate and doctorate degrees.
His research focuses on processes by which stereotypes can shape outcomes of high-stakes relationships and tests scalable means to mitigate those effects in various institutions and organizations. At present, he applies his research in real-world settings such as K-12 schools, jails, workplaces, and hospitals.
Jason’s research program examines social-psychological processes that contribute to inequity. One context in which he has examined these processes is that of teacher-student relationships and race disparities in disciplinary action. His research emphasizes the on-going interplay between psychological/mindset processes that originate among teachers (how stereotyping can influence discipline) and students (how apprehension to bias can incite misbehavior) to examine causes for disproportionate discipline according to race. The intersection of these processes, Jason hypothesizes, undermines teacher-student relationships over time, contributes to disproportionate discipline to racially stigmatized students, and ultimately feeds the “school-to-prison” pipeline. By investigating basic processes that contribute to misinterpreted and misguided disrespect among teachers and students, he aims to develop novel interventions that empower teachers to reach their teaching goals and interventions that help students – especially racially stigmatized youth – succeed in school and reduce their risk of discipline problems.
For example, he conducted a large scale randomized controlled trial that showed a scalable virtual program reduced racial disparities in yearlong suspensions by 45% for a sample of ~6,000 students across 20 cities.
Another one of his interventions significantly cut recidivism rates for a sample of ~20,000 adults on probation and parole.
Both large-scale interventions targeted the mindsets of the people in positions of power (i.e., teachers and officers) to sideline bias with a more functional focus on empathy to shift the way the interacted with the individuals under their supervision, namely the ones from groups stigmatized in that particular setting.
His research has been published in top journals, including Science Advances, Psychological Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His intervention work has received international recognition with awards such as the annual Cialdini Award for applied research from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology’s international conference. The work has been recognized and recommended by the US Department of Education and funded by such organizations and foundations as Google, Tides Foundation, Character Lab, and the Bureau for Justice Statistics. And the findings have been featured on a variety of popular media outlets, including National Public Radio, New York Times, MSNBC, Reuters, Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal, and Education Week.
