Our Research
One of our unifying beliefs at the Wellesley Centers for Women is that research is not meant to sit on a shelf. Rather, it should be shared widely and used to shape a better world.
Our research scientists investigate critical social issues that impact the lives of women and girls, families and communities, and we approach these issues from feminist, womanist, and intersectional perspectives.
We transform our research into action by sharing what we know with decision makers of all kinds so they can make informed investments in the best policies, programs, and practices. In doing this work, we leverage the power of data to advance gender equality, social justice, and human wellbeing.
Our research and action activities are funded by federal, state, and local government grants; awards from private foundations; contracts for evaluation research projects; and individual donors who support this work.
Our work:
- Our Family, Sexuality, and Communication research, led by Senior Research Scientist Jennifer M. Grossman, Ph.D., investigates who teens talk to about sex and what they are talking about—and what effect those conversations have on their decision-making down the road.
- Our Justice and Gender-Based Violence research, led by Senior Research Scientist Linda M. Williams, Ph.D., with Associate Research Scientists Nyasha Karimakwenda, Ph.D., and Kate Price, Ph.D., examines the causes and consequences of gender-based violence and the social, health, and justice system responses to violent crime and victimization.
- Our Mental Health research, led by Research Scientist Katherine R. Buchholz, Ph.D., focuses on developing evidence-based programs to improve mental health in adolescents and young adults.
- The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST), led by Director Georgia Hall, Ph.D., with Postdoctoral Research Scientist Ben Berners-Lee, Ph.D., supports the healthy development of children, families, and communities, and advances the OST field through research, training, and evaluation and measurement tools.
- Our Women in the Workplace research is led by Senior Research Scientist Sari Pekkala Kerr, Ph.D., whose work on the gender wage gap, the mommy track, family leave and minimum wage policies, and immigrant entrepreneurship has brought much-needed nuance to our knowledge about women in the workplace.
- Our Work, Families & Children research, led by Senior Research Scientist Wendy Wagner Robeson, Ed.D., studies child development, early child care and education, and school readiness, with a focus on policy implications.
- Our Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab, led by Senior Research Scientist Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., with Postdoctoral Research Scientist J. Maya Hernandez, Ph.D., studies critical and timely issues related to youth, the media they use—particularly digital media and social media—and how it impacts their wellbeing.
Our International Scholar-in-Residence program supports the following work:
- Pashtana Durrani, M.Ed., is an Afghan human rights activist and community development expert who focuses on girls’ education. While at WCW, she continues in her capacity as a practitioner to develop models that support Afghan women and girls pursuing education and the health of Afghan mothers and infants.
- Hauwa Ibrahim, J.D.; S.J.D.; M.L., is an international human rights and Shariah law attorney with significant academic and government experience. She is currently researching and working on “Mothers Without Borders: The Phenomenology of Mothers’ Soft Power in Building Peace” with groups of women across dozens of countries.
