Sandra Graham

Distinguished Professor Emerita

Sandra Graham is a Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Department of Education at UCLA and the University of California Presidential Chair in Education and Diversity. She received her BA from Barnard College, an MA in History from Columbia University, and her PhD in Education from UCLA. Graham is a developmental social psychologist. Her major research interests include the study of academic motivation and social development in children of color, particularly in school contexts that vary in racial/ethnic diversity. She focuses on how school context variables such as racial/ethnic diversity contribute to the development of cross-ethnic friendships, positive intergroup attitudes, multiple social identities, coping with peer victimization, and the reduction of achievement disparities between different racial/ethnic groups. Among her awards, she is a 2011 recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Child Development Award from the Society for Research on Child Development, the 2014 E. L. Thorndike Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Educational Psychology, Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, the 2023 James Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award for Transformative Scholarship, Association for Psychological Science (APS) and the 2023 AERA Division C Sylvia Scribner Award for outstanding contributions to the field of learning and instruction. She was awarded an honorary Degree from Radboud University, The Netherlands, in 2023. In 2015 she was elected to the National Academy of Education. She is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, Association of Psychological Science, and American Educational Research Association.

Departments

Department of Education

Programs

Areas of Expertise and Advising Interests

Other Affiliations

Titles and Positions

Distinguished Professor Emerita
Presidential Chair in Education and Diversity

Education

Ph.D., Education, University of California, Los Angeles, 1982
M.A., History, Columbia University, 1970
B.A., History, Barnard College, 1969

Awards, Honors and Fellowships

2023 – James Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award for Transformative Scholarship, Association for Psychological Science (APS)
2023 – Sylvia Scribner Award for significant contriburion to the filed of learning and instruction, Division C (Learning and Instruction), American Educarional research Association (AERA)
2023 – Honorary Degree, Radboud University, the Netherlands
Elected to National Academy of Education
E.L. Thorndike Career Award for contributions to Educational Psychology, Division 15, American Psychological Association
Distinguished Master Lecturer, American Psychological Association
Independent Scientist Award, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health
Early Contribution Award from Division 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association
Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California
Associate Editor of Developmental Psychology
Member of the National Research Council Panel on Adolescent Health
Member of the MacArthur Foundation Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice

Select Publications

Graham, S., & Echols, L. (2023). Diversity Protects: The Role of School and Classroom Racial/Ethnic Diversity on the Experience of Peer Victimization During the Middle School Year. Development and Psychopathology.1-17.
Graham, S., Taylor, A. (2022). The power of asking Why: Attribution retraining programs for the classroom teacher. Theory Into Practice., 61(1), 5-22. Winner of the best article of the Year Award.
Graham, S., Kogachi, K., & Morales-Chicas, J. (2022). Do I fit in?: Race/ethnicity, feelings of belonging, and academic achievement in school. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 2015-2042.
Graham, S. (2020). An attributional theory of motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61(April), 101861.
Graham, S. (2018). Race/ethnicity and social adjustment of adolescents: How (not if) school diversity matters. Educational Psychologist, 53, 64-77.
Juvonen, J., & Graham, S. (2014). Bullying in schools: The power of bullies and the plight of victims. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 159-185.
Graham, S., & Taylor, A.Z. (2014). An attributional approach to emotional life in the classroom. In R. Pekrun & Lisa Linnenbrink-Garci (Eds), International handbook of emotions in education (pp. 96-119). London: Taylor & Francis.
Graham, S., & Munniskma, A., & Juvonen, J. (2014). Psychosocial benefits of cross-ethnic friendships in urban middle schools. Child Development, 85, 469-483.
Graham, S. (2015). Race and motivation. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
Graham, S., & Taylor, A.Z. (2016). Attribution theory and motivation in school. In K. Wentzel & D. Miele (Eds.), Handbook of motivation in school. London: Taylor & Francis.
Chen, X., & Graham, S. (2015). Cross-ethnic friendships and intergroup attitudes among Asian American adolescents. Child Development.
Spivak, A., White, S., Juvonen, J., & Graham, S. (2015). Correlates of prosocial behavior in ethnically and racially diverse middle schools. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly.
Morales-Chicas, J., & Graham, S. (2015). Pubertal timing in Latinas and school connectedness across the middle school transition. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.