Publication

Prioritizing equity among the great challenges of AI, says Parthasarathy

May 29, 2024

As generative artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, University of Michigan expert Shobita Parthasarathy says technical revisions to the mechanics may address some harms built into the technology so far.Yet, she argues, “it will always be...

Publication

Higher education responds to changing labor markets

May 29, 2024

Do universities respond to the changing needs of industry by offering curriculums that provide students skills they need on the job? That’s the central question of a multi-year research project headed up by Kevin Stange, co-director of the...

Publication

Hernandez and Summers offer tips to help leaders articulate values

May 28, 2024

Values are at the heart of leadership, decision making, and organizational culture, but what constitutes a value? How do leaders effectively put them into practice?In an article for MIT Sloan Management Review, leadership experts Morela Hernandez...

Headshots of Morela Hernandez and Catherine Summers

Publication

Most local officials support rooftop solar, a majority opposes nuclear power

May 22, 2024

Michigan’s local leaders overwhelmingly support adding rooftop solar infrastructure in their communities, while a majority strongly oppose developing nuclear power.Those are among the key findings in the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey...

Publication

Study offers ways to boost participation in program promoting healthy pregnancies, infant growth

May 20, 2024

Home visiting programs are effective in promoting healthy pregnancies, birth outcomes and infant growth and development—and new University of Michigan research offers ways to increase participation among eligible families.Michigan's Maternal and...

Publication

More local officials see relevance of electric vehicle planning

May 2, 2024

Local officials across Michigan increasingly view electric vehicle infrastructure planning as relevant for their governments, though many cite too few public charging stations and costs associated with adding them as barriers to expansion.The...

Gray Electric Car Parked on a Charging Bay

Publication

State bans on ‘divisive concepts’ could stifle population health research

Apr 25, 2024

Ten states have passed legislation that prohibits teaching and mandatory training for students, faculty, and staff in public higher education on specified 'divisive concepts' related to race and sex. In four of these states, the bans extend to all...

Publication

U-M researchers partner with District of Columbia Public Schools for Pre-K curriculum implementation study

Apr 24, 2024

University of Michigan researchers from the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Marsal Family School of Education have partnered with MDRC, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), and the Urban...

Publication

NASEM committee including EPI’s Christina Weiland urges changes to preschool curricula to improve equity and support high-quality early education in the U.S.

Apr 18, 2024

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) lays out a new vision for high-quality preschool curricula that support equitable early education for all children. The report recommends that in the next five...

Publication

Grappling with the grid: Expanding electricity transmission brings benefits, encounters barriers

Mar 13, 2024

Improving the U.S. electricity grid is necessary to lower costs, boost reliability and help tackle climate change, but it will take some serious soul searching by the leaders of entities that control the grid, according to a University of Michigan...

Publication

Injuries of inequality and the promise of safety nets

Mar 7, 2024

What would a comprehensive strategy for reproductive rights and access look like, borrowing from the lessons from the fight against HIV? This is the question that Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy at the Ford School...

Headshots of Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and Dom Adams-Santos

Publication

Lessons learned: Urban charter schools demonstrate potential to improve student performance

Feb 22, 2024

While the merits of charter schools vs. traditional public schools are well-documented, some charter schools in urban areas can dramatically improve student achievement, especially among disadvantaged students, says a University of Michigan...

Publication

Policing a neurodiverse world

Feb 20, 2024

When responding to calls related to mental health crises, police should work to change the environments where people with psychiatric disabilities live and work, rather than simply connecting them with medical intervention.Professor David Thacher, a...

Publication

A tale of two perspectives on innovation and global equity

Feb 13, 2024

Inclusive innovation—the idea of introducing technologies designed for and by the poor to boost economic growth in impoverished communities—often misses the real problems facing these communities and champions solutions that benefit entrepreneurs at...

Publication

When good intentions aren’t enough: Creating more equitable partnerships between technical and community experts

Feb 6, 2024

Register for the Community Partnerships Playbook webinarAs the popularity of community engagement grows among technologists and academics, it is vital to ensure that they engage communities in ways that benefit the people they claim to serve and do...

Community partnerships playbook. How to create equitable partnerships between technical and community experts. Logos on right: Detroit Disability Power, Detroit Justice Center, Ford School Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. We the People Michigan Action Fund.

Publication

What's stopping U.S. climate policies from working effectively?

Jan 30, 2024

The United States recently passed major climate change laws, such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), and the CHIPS and Science Act, which allocate funding with a goal of expanding...

Publication

Michelmore and Pilkauskas on Congressional proposal to expand the child tax credit

Jan 29, 2024

Congress is currently considering a $33 billion measure that would adjust the earning requirements and make it easier for many lower-income families to receive the full child tax credit, an average credit that is about $1,130 higher than in 2022....

Natasha Pilkauskas and Katherine Michelmore

Publication

Communicating about climate change more effective when stories about those displaced hit 'close to home'

Jan 9, 2024

Concern for climate change grows—along with support for policies to reduce emissions—when people read about Americans being forced to move within the U.S. because of it. That's in sharp contrast to learning about climate-induced moves to the...

Publication

Weiland addresses Michigan's $107M preschool education investment

Dec 11, 2023

Christina Weiland, faculty co-director of the Education Policy Initiative, has studied pre-K programs around the country. The state of Michigan will spend an additional $107M in its 2023-2024 budget on pre-K, hoping to increase the number of...

Publication

U-M education researchers present evidence-based findings and analysis to inform Michigan’s Pre-K-for-All goals

Dec 6, 2023

Achieving Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s aim of universal Pre-K, made in her State of the State address in January 2023, will require building upon its established programs and making some adjustments to the state’s education...

Publication

Axelrod autobiography gives insight to his “Passion for Cooperation”

Nov 10, 2023

Ford School professor emeritus Robert Axelrod has had a 50-year career that has made him what some people have called “one of the most influential social scientists of his generation.” After being recognized by President Kennedy for being a...

Publication

Lewis on the future of climate resilience in “haven” cities

Nov 2, 2023

Ann Arbor and other cities across the Midwest and Northeast have been referred to by climate specialists as “climate havens,” natural areas of refuge that are relatively safe from extreme weather events such as intense heat and tropical storms. Many...

Publication

Thacher studies history to inform today's police reform

Oct 27, 2023

Although some may view reducing the harms of policing as a contemporary issue, David Thacher encourages modern reformers to consider the past in the Journal of Criminal Justice. Using original archival research, Thacher examined the use of summons...

Publication

New study ties exposure to armed conflict violence in childhood with subsequent alcohol use disorder

Sep 27, 2023

Exposure to nearby violence has been shown to increase the onset of alcohol use disorders (AUD), especially in young people. In new research, William Axinn, Ford School professor and research professor at the Survey Research Center and Population...

Publication

Stevenson predicts continued labor strife in an uncertain market

Sep 22, 2023

As the U.S. endures the UAW, Writers’ Guild, and Screen Actors strikes, among others, Ford School economics professor Betsey Stevenson says the country may endure more labor upheaval. Once the chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, she...

Publication

Housing shortages across Michigan alarming local leaders - Michigan survey

Sep 14, 2023

Michigan local officials are reporting alarm at the lack of housing options across the state. Those concerns include single-family homes and multi-family units, and cut across affordable, entry-level and mid-level housing availability. The...

Publication

Pandemic pushed half-million kids into grandparents’ homes - Pilkauskas

Aug 30, 2023

Grandparents appeared to serve as an important private safety net when COVID-19 first hit the U.S., according to a new study. The pandemic’s arrival in 2020 coincided with a surge of nearly 510,000 children living in “doubled-up” households,...

Publication

Dean Watkins-Hayes salutes her mentor, editing the Speechifying compendium

Aug 30, 2023

Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes is honoring one of her great mentors, Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole — noted Black feminist anthropologist, the first Black female president of Spelman College, former director of the Smithsonian Institution's...

Speechifying Book Cover featuring Dr. Cole

Publication

Ayanian, IHPI report provides key insights as Medicaid 'unwinding' continues and more states expand eligibility

Aug 25, 2023

At a pivotal time for Medicaid health coverage for Americans with low incomes, a report on the impacts of Michigan's Medicaid expansion shows very positive effects, as well as opportunities for continued improvements. The report was produced by...

Publication

Study: Young women report higher rates of forced sexual intercourse during pandemic

Aug 24, 2023

The rate of forced intercourse in early adulthood rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a potential increase in unintended pregnancies and many other sexual, reproductive and mental health problems, according to a University of Michigan...