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Sheretta Butler-Barnes

Sheretta Butler-Barnes is a developmental psychologist and has expertise and scholarly work on the impact of racism and the use of culturally strength-based assets on the educational and health outcomes of Black American families.

She is currently a Professor at the WUSTL Brown School of Social Work. Before coming to the Brown School, Butler-Barnes was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan’s School of Education affiliated with the Center for the Study of Black Youth in Context. Butler-Barnes received her PhD and MA from Wayne State University in psychology and a BS in psychology from Michigan State University.

The two lines of her research agenda include 1) Black families and Racial Justice Project, which is a mixed methodological investigation of Black families’ vulnerability to or resilience against marginalization, focusing on parenting practices and adolescent developmental trajectories, and 2) Equity for Black Women and Girls Project which focuses on advancing equity for women and girls of color by identifying risk and protective factors in learning spaces and creating culturally responsive programming that promote resiliency.

Sheretta Butler-Barnes

Areas of Focus:

  • Black American Families
  • Race-Related Stress
  • Racial Justice in Learning Contexts
  • Risk & Resilience
  • Race, Gender, & Education

In The News

Brown School Summer Partnership Builds Black Girls’ STEM Skills, Confidence
July 17, 2023

NSF Funds Training Program to Boost Regional Quantum Workforce
July 19, 2022

Butler-Barnes Receives NSF Grant to Study Impact of Racial Violence
August 30, 2021

Butler-Barnes awarded seed grant to study parental messaging about race
July 13, 2020

Featured Publications

"[E]ven Though We Don't Have Everything…We Build Our Own Thing": Exploring Black Girl Space.
Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence
March 1 2022

Racial and gender discrimination by teachers: Risks for Black girls' depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation.
Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology
April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 7 2022