Research Bio
Sean Darling-Hammond (JD, PhD) is an Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley in the School of Public Health. He seeks to expand belonging and well-being by conducting research in two areas:
- identifying k-12 policies and practices that help schools become inclusive, psychologically safe spaces for students of all backgrounds and
- identifying social policies that combat and sideline racial bias.
Sean’s interdisciplinary scholarship leverages theories, methods, and frameworks from psychology, education, law, public policy, and public health; has been published in top-tier peer reviewed journals like PNAS, Science Advances, and Nature Human Behavior; has been cited in over 1,000 peer reviewed journal articles; has been covered by major publications like the New York Times, Washington Post, and NBC; and has been used in trainings and hearings by the Department of Education and the House Judiciary Committee. Recent and forthcoming publications estimate the impact of political rhetoric and intergroup contact on racial bias; document stark racial disparities in exposure to scholastic punishment and “unsafe” school police officers; identify psychological mechanisms that drive teachers to engage in equitable or inequitable discipline practices, and elevate promising policy synergies that can create structural conditions for students of varied backgrounds to belong, thrive, and excel.
Research Expertise and Interest
K-12, education policy, exclusionary discipline, school policing, restorative practices, social and emotional learning, student mental health, health equity, implicit bias, intergroup contact
