Regina Langhout, Ph.D.

Regina Langhout is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her commitment to issues and concerns of social justice has informed her study of empowerment in educational and neighborhood settings. Her research addresses the following questions:

1. What characteristics within settings inhibit or promote - either intentionally or unintentionally - thriving?
2. How do race, ethnicity, social class, and gender influence experience, and how do these experiences influence subjectivity?
3. How do individuals and groups experience, cope with, and resist negative stereotypes?
4. What conditions are necessary for individuals to change their ideological perspectives and become inspired to work toward social justice? How can researchers facilitate systemic, sustainable change that increases individual and group thriving, and support people identifying as agents of social change?

Professor Langhout's primary research takes place in elementary schools and neighborhoods that serve working class and working poor African American, Latina/o, and white students. She uses a paradigm called participatory action research (PAR) to critically examine schools and neighborhoods. With PAR, stakeholder groups collaborate to determine problems and interventions. Her empirical research includes determining recess interventions though playground observations and focus groups, surveying teachers, parents, and students to assess their perceptions of school context, and working with young people to develop and paint a mural on school grounds in order to create a more welcoming atmosphere for students and their families.