New book explores ways to combat economic injustice in America

How can the United States, one of the wealthiest nations on earth, have the highest rates of poverty among industrialized nations? In a new book based on decades of research, renowned poverty expert Mark Rank, a professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, develops a unique perspective for understanding this puzzle.

Fighting Intolerance with Physics

In a world experiencing growing inequality and intolerance, tools borrowed from science and mathematics could be the key to understanding and preventing prejudice. In Chaos, Luis A. Martinez-Vaquero applies evolutionary game theory, which combines techniques from economics and biology, and complex system analysis to investigate the relationship between inequality and intolerance. He found that inequality boosts intolerance and that redistribution of wealth can prevent its infectious spread.

Novel atlas shows vast urban infrastructure divide between Global South and Global North

New data from an international research team adds another dimension – literally – to understanding the economic and environmental impacts of how cities are built. Using satellite mapping, researchers measured the height of built-up infrastructure in urban areas across the globe, which could improve projections of energy use and emissions and inform city planning and economic development efforts, including progression toward the United Nations sustainable development goals.

Study: Filipino, Vietnamese and Thai students are ‘invisible’ victims of inequality in STEM fields

The findings of the University at Buffalo study highlight the need for higher education leaders to understand the specific needs of underrepresented Asian American ethnic subgroups and develop sustainable reform policies.

How society’s inequalities showed up in COVID outcomes

During the 2020 lockdowns, residents of affluent areas in Salt Lake County, Utah were able to stay at home more than residents of the least affluent zip codes, suggesting that the “essential worker” occupations of the least-affluent areas, which are also the highest minority populations, placed them at greater risk for contracting COVID-19. Subsequently, the least-affluent zip codes experienced nearly ten times the COVID incidence rate of affluent areas.

National Outstanding Researcher of the Year 2021 (Philosophy) and His Research to Solve Social Inequality

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Apiwat Ratanawaraha, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University and National Outstanding Researcher of the Year 2021 (Philosophy) “Land use in Thailand has been a chronic problem and the cause of systemic social inequality and injustice. If we are unable to resolve this issue, it is difficult to reduce inequality and injustice in other areas.”

Innovative Parenting Programs Address Inequality in Young Children’s Development

Parent education programs and interventions that begin shortly after the birth of a child have shown to significantly impact parenting behaviors that support social and academic engagement for children growing up in poverty.

Land Development in New Jersey Continues to Slow

Land development in New Jersey has slowed dramatically since the 2008 Great Recession, but it’s unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to fight societal and housing inequality will affect future trends, according to a Rutgers co-authored report. Between 2012 and 2015, 10,392 acres in the Garden State became urban land. That’s 3,464 acres a year – far lower than the 16,852 acres per year in the late 1990s and continuing the trend of decreasing urban development that began in the 2008 Great Recession.

Black and Female Principal Candidates More Likely to Experience Delayed and Denied Promotions than White or Male Counterparts

Black and female assistant principals are systematically delayed and denied promotion to principal, compared to their White or male counterparts, despite having equivalent qualifications and more experience on average, according to a new study. The findings were published in June in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed, open access journal of the American Educational Research Association.

Persistent inequitable exposure to air pollution in Salt Lake County schools

Salt Lake County, Utah’s air pollution is at times the worst in the United States. Underserved neighborhoods—and their schools—experience the highest concentrations. A new study utilized nearly 200 PM 2.5 sensors through the Air Quality and U network and revealed persistent social inequalities in Salt Lake County schools.

WashU Expert: Don’t overlook health equity during coronavirus crisis

We must consider this coronavirus crisis as a wake-up call to prioritize equity and challenge ourselves to consider how to better serve historically underserved communities, says a public health expert at Washington University in St. Louis.“In the middle of a pandemic, it is easy to overlook health equity,” said Darrell Hudson, associate professor at the Brown School.

If you’re poor, poverty is an environmental issue

A survey from Cornell researchers – conducted among more than 1,100 U.S. residents – found that there were, in fact, demographic differences in how people viewed environmental issues, with racial and ethnic minorities and lower-income people more likely to consider human factors such as racism and poverty as environmental, in addition to more ecological issues like toxic fumes from factories or car exhaust.