Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Linda Charmaraman joined the Wellesley Centers for Women in September 2006 as a National Institutes of Child and Human Development (NICHD) Postdoctoral Research Fellow. In August 2006, she completed work toward her Ph.D. in Human Development and Education from the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Education. Her dissertation is entitled Cognitive and Social Development Through Digital Media Construction in an Urban After-School Community. Utilizing frames of reference from human development and educational psychology, as well as language and literacy traditions, this mixed-method case study provided a window into the lives of youth media artists and collaborators who inventively utilized digital media technology to construct their versions of urban youth identity. By analyzing field observations, interviews, questionnaires, and media artifacts of focal students, the opportunities for cognitive and social development were traced from the conception of storylines, to the production process, to the community reception of youth works. Active participation in the tight-knit collaborating alliances in the program promoted group work ethics, sense of belonging, solidarity, responsibility, and recognition of hidden talents. The intermediate youth media producers, in particular, were cognizant of their agency and ability to promote social change through harnessing the mutable tools of media production within a supportive creative community.

Linda Charmaraman's research interests center on bridging societal gaps, ranging from 21st century media literacies to adolescent identity and positive urban youth development. Along with her colleague Jennifer Grossman, she has published research articles and presented at conferences that focus on the meaning of racial-ethnic importance on adolescent identity, noting key differences associated with such contextual variables as racial-ethnic background, socioeconomic class, and school composition. She is continuing to work with Sumru Erkut and colleagues on the Planned Parenthood middle school comprehensive sex education evaluation. Her qualitative focus on the experimental evaluation project is to (a) interview parents about sexual socialization processes with their teens and (b) give cameras to youth participants to capture aspects of their daily lives, in order to gain a deeper understanding of how young people perceive and maintain close relationships over time. In addition, Linda collaborates with Nan Stein and Dorothy Espelage (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) on CDC-funded research pertaining to middle school bullying and sexual violence, focusing on student interviews and teacher focus groups. Linda is also a researcher in the Mixed Ancestry Project, which recently completed an NICHD-funded measurement pilot.

Dr. Charmaraman is affiliated with the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, currently collaborating with Georgia Hall on two projects: 1) documenting the unique strategies and program culture of a school-based boys group designed to increase healthy relationships with peers and adults, thereby preventing interpersonal violence and 2) a multi-year evaluation of an arts and technology after-school program in Michigan. Her previous evaluation work with NIOST includes BE SAFE, a youth prevention initiative aiming to increase program staff and youth knowledge regarding sexual and mental health, substance abuse, and violence; and Out of Harm’s Way, a Boston-based initiative attempting to eliminate violence as a barrier to learning and healthy development in middle school students. In terms of other gender-focused work, Linda is currently conducting an intensive case study on an urban girls’ media production program called Teen Voices, focusing on the development of voice and agency, racial/ethnic and gender identity, and social justice activism. Her long-term goal is to delineate the key contributions of how closely-knit communities of color and out of school organizations shape the mental health and social/cultural capital of individuals, noting any differences within ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and gender boundaries. Dr. Charmaraman was recently a Visiting Assistant Professor in Asian American Psychology at Wellesley College and a guest lecturer at Boston College.

Dr. Charmaraman received her B.A. from UC Berkeley with a double major in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies, concentration in Cognition & the Learning Process. Her keen interest in improving the educational experience for overlooked urban youth developed from over a decade of volunteer work as an afterschool tutor, mentor, and coordinator in the Bay Area. Throughout her doctoral program, she was the coordinator of graduate student diversity recruitment in her department and an appointed student delegate of the Equity Committee. For over six years, she maintained a strong commitment to providing a forum for women artists and activists to be showcased by being a host/producer of a local "Womyn in the Arts" radio show, collaborating with the Empowering Women of Color Conference, and directing the Women of Color Film Festival in the Bay Area. She was also on the Advisory Board for the national women's film festival, Lunafest, which raises money for the Breast Cancer Fund and local nonprofit organizations. Dr. Charmaraman hopes to merge her longstanding personal interests in gender and ethnic equity issues with her academic research agenda, focusing on writing externally funded grants in order to create movement and dialogue on critical social issues.