Senior sociology major Kimani Brown plans to become a social worker so she can help foster children 鈥� and ultimately become a foster parent herself.
鈥淭he systems are overworked and there are not enough people鈥� in the field, she says. 鈥淪ome kids get overlooked.鈥�
She鈥檚 seen the consequences in her own family and among acquaintances in the Boston neighborhood where she grew up 鈥� including in families where children spent years in foster care because of a lack of support services.
鈥淔or children, those years in your life are very formative years, when you crave the care of others,鈥� she says.
Brown, who identifies as Black and Caribbean American, will be one of the first students to graduate in a brand-new concentration within the sociology major: racial equity and inclusion. She is also minoring in education so she can understand more about children鈥檚 development and learning and the role of schools. Both will help her in her future work, she says.
Racial equity and inclusion is a topic Brown has thought about a lot. As a child, she attended schools in a predominantly white suburb through the voluntary school integration program. Four years of working in UML鈥檚 Office of Multicultural Affairs and the friends she has made there have given her more insights into different racial and ethnic groups.聽
Now, Brown is doing research in the field, both independently and with faculty.
For a required sociology class in qualitative research, she interviewed two Boston children of color 鈥� one boy and one girl 鈥� in the METCO program who attend the same middle school that she did. Her questions focused on their ideas of beauty and their self-images.聽
鈥淚n middle school, you鈥檙e starting to come into yourself,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淭hese students are very in tune with themselves, and they鈥檙e very perceptive.鈥�
While pursuing her own research interests, Brown was taking classes on race and ethnicity with Asst. Prof. Chandra Waring, including Race and Families. Waring researches the experiences and identities of multiracial and biracial adults.
Impressed by Brown鈥檚 classwork, Waring invited her to become a paid research assistant over the summer. Brown and another student reviewed recent research related to Waring鈥檚, then summarized and discussed it in weekly meetings.
Before, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what research looked like,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淪urprisingly, it wasn鈥檛 鈥楾his is a drag.鈥� It was interesting.鈥�
Brown continued to work with Waring in the fall through a directed study, assisting her with a new paper. And under Waring鈥檚 guidance, Brown is turning her own research on the middle-schoolers into a solo paper she plans to submit to a peer-reviewed journal.
Waring 鈥渢hought I could make a contribution,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a great mentor.鈥�