Rashmita Mistry
Moore Hall 3302A
405 Hilgard Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521
Office Hours
By appointment
Rashmita Mistry
Professor
Rashmita S. Mistry, Ph.D., is Professor and Vice Chair of Undergraduate Programs in Education and Social Transformation in the Department of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. A developmental psychologist, Dr. Mistry’s research examines the consequences of family socioeconomic resources and disadvantage on children’s developmental outcomes, and children’s perceptions, reasoning, and experiences of social status (i.e., social class, race/ethnicity, nationality).
Departments
Programs
Academic Advising Specializations
- Early Childhood
- Human Development and Psychology
- Race and Ethnic Studies
- Schooling, Immigration, and Sociopolitical Contexts of Education
- Social Development
Interests
Expertise
- Applied Quantitative Methods
- Diversity
- Early Education
- Equity
- Ethnic Issues
- Immigrants and Immigration
- Underserved Students
Research Centers
Titles and Positions
- Professor of Education
- Director, Children’s Understanding of Economic and Social Inequality Lab
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
- Elected Member-at-Large of Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development. 2017-2023.
- (Inaugural) UCLA Chancellor’s Award for Community-Engaged Scholars. With K. Quartz. 2019-2020.
- Elected Fellow, Association of Psychological Science. 2017.
- (Inaugural) Lena Astin Faculty Mentoring Award, Department of Education, 2017. University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
- Outstanding Teaching & Mentoring Award (2016). Society for the Study of Psychological Issues.
- Distinguished Research Award (Human Development) (2016). American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division E.
- Social Policy Award for Best Edited Book (2014). Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA).
- Distinguished Teaching & Mentorship Award, Department of Education, 2010. University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
- NICHD-sponsored Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1999-2002
Education
- Ph.D., Child Development and Family Relationships, University of Texas-Austin 1999
- M.S., Experimental Psychology, San Jose State University, 1992
- B.A., Psychology (Minor in Child Development), San Jose State University, 1989
Select Publications
- Elenbaas, L., & Mistry, R.S. (forthcoming, 2021). Distributive justice in society and among peers: 8- to 14 year-olds’ views on economic stratification inform their decisions about access to opportunities. Developmental Psychology.
- Mistry, R.S., Elenbaas, L. (2021). It’s All in the Family: Parents’ Economic Worries and Youth’s Perceptions of Financial Stress and Educational Outcomes. J Youth Adolescence, 50, 724–738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01393-4
- Diemer, M., Marchand, A., & Mistry, R. S. (2020). Charting how wealth shapes educational pathways from childhood to early adulthood: A process model. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 1073–1091.
- Brown, C. S., Mistry, R. S., & Yip, T. (2019). Moving from the margins to the mainstream: Equity and justice as key considerations for developmental science. Child Development Perspectives, 13, 235-240.
- Ruck, M., Mistry, R. S., & Flanagan, C. (Eds) (2019). Special Issue: Children’s understanding and experiences of economic inequality: Implications for theory, research, policy, and practice. Developmental Psychology, 55, 449–456.
- White, E. S., & Mistry, R.S. (2019). Teachers’ civic socialization practices and upper-elementary school-age children’s civic engagement. Applied Developmental Science, 23, 183-202.
- Nenadal, L., & Mistry, R.S. (2018). Teacher reflections on using an inquiry-based approach to talk with young children about wealth and poverty. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 42, 44-54.
- Mistry, R. S., Nenadal, L., Griffin, K. M., Zimmerman, F. J., Cochran, H. A., Thomas, C.-A. & Wilson, C. (2016). Children’s reasoning about poverty, economic mobility, and helping behavior: Results of a curriculum intervention in the early school years. Journal of Social Issues, 72, 760–788.
- Mistry, R. S., Brown, C. S., White, E. S., Chow, K. A., & Gillen-O’Neel, C. (2015). Elementary school children’s reasoning about social class: A mixed-methods study. Child Development, 86, 1653-1671.
- Diemer, M., *Mistry, R. S., Wadsworth, M. E., Lopez, I., & Reimers, F. (2013). Best Practices in Conceptualizing and Measuring Social Class in Psychological Research. ASAP: Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 13, 77-113.