Maxwell School News and Commentary

The awards are funded by a 2022 MetLife Foundation grant that supports research and community programming over three years to examine the racial wealth gap’s root causes and ideas that may resolve its economic and social inequalities, says Kendall Phillips, Lender Center interim director.

“Demand for our highly ranked M.P.A. program remains strong with increased student interest in certificates of advanced study,” says Colleen Heflin, associate dean, professor and chair of public administration and international affairs. “Particularly in the areas of data analytics for public policy, security studies, and conflict and collaboration.”

"We need to be intentional in forging new pathways by which BIPOC students can find physical geography and achieve their desired level of education, because regardless of career end points, diversification depends on drawing in more students from marginalized groups," writes Professor Emeritus of Geography and the Environment Jacob Bendix and his co-authors.

"During my conversations with Tsinghua University faculty and students regarding whether they would consider studying in the United States, they expressed fear and anxiety about what they perceive as 'a hostile America' toward China—specifically, the U.S. policies targeting Chinese talent and the broader anti-China rhetoric," Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology.

Thomas Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics, says the Princeton Principles do improve on the Chicago principles, which don’t use the term “academic freedom.” But he says the Princeton Principles still seem to privilege free speech over academic freedom. 

Bill Coplin, professor of policy studies, says he has been saving students from the damage done by the “bait-and-switch business model of the liberal arts programs” for fifty years. 

Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology, says that around 2018-2019, American universities began to see a slight decrease in the number of Chinese students. “And then the pandemic hit,” Ma says. “And with the rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China...[it] made Chinese students hesitate to come to the United States to study.”

Ying Shi, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs, and John G. Singleton of the University of Rochester, investigated what happens when educators are elected to school boards. "Despite raising teachers’ salaries, electing an educator to a school board does not translate into improved outcomes for students and has negative impacts on charter schools."

"'Model minorities'" in the classroom? Positive evaluation bias towards Asian students and its consequences," co-authored by Ying Shi, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs, and Maria Zhu, assistant professor of economics, was published in the Journal of Public Economics.

"Inequality in Literacy Skills at Kindergarten Entry at the Intersections of Social Programs and Race," co-authored by public administration and international affairs professors Michah Rothbart and Colleen Heflin, was published in Children and Youth Services Review.