The Graduate School is excited to welcome Dr. Lauren Mims, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, as a Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence in the Graduate School. Dr. Mims will work alongside Dr. Robin Phelps-Ward, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, leading the Pathways Project. The Pathways Project is a Graduate School initiative for inclusive excellence for students, faculty, and staff designed to foster equity and mentoring in graduate education at Ball State University. The Pathways Project features three distinct programs (the Pathways Mentoring Program, Action Research Collective, and Building Mentoring Capacities Workshop series), which center and support students from marginalized backgrounds (e.g., domestic Students of Color, LGBTQIA2S+ students, students with disabilities, low-income students, student veterans, students with dependents, etc.).
Dr. Lauren Christine Mims, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Ball State University. She holds a doctoral degree in educational psychology from the University of Virginia, a master's degree in child development from Tufts University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia. She was also appointed assistant director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans during the Obama administration. During her time, she was a member of the White House Council on Women and Girls, the U.S. Department of Education Policy Committee, the United States Department of Education Socioeconomic Diversity Working Group, as well as a member of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Working Group.
Dr. Mims' current work focuses on promoting the wellbeing and development of Black students, with a particular focus on Black girls. The late American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou once said, "You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot — it's all there. Everything influences each of us." Therefore, Lauren uses a mixed methods approach to explore how the sum total of schooling (e.g. policies, practices, relationships, cultural representations and other norms) influences students’ identities. This research also explores student-teacher relationships, dream-keeping, and the consequences of bias and discrimination.