Our mission is to ILLUMINATE, DISRUPT, and DISMANTLE racism in all its forms.
The University of Southern California is home to a dynamic research, professional learning, and organizational improvement center that serves educational institutions, corporations, government agencies, and other organizations that span a multitude of industries across the United States and in other countries. We actualize our mission through rigorous interdisciplinary research, high-quality professional learning experiences, the production and wide dissemination of useful tools, trustworthy consultations and strategy advising, and substantive partnerships. While race and ethnicity are at the epicenter of our work, we also value their intersectionality with other identities, and therefore aim to advance equity for all persons experiencing marginalization. Our rigorous approach is built on research, scalable and adaptable models of success, and continuous feedback from partners and clients.
We acknowledge that our center is on the traditional land of the Gabrielino-Tongva peoples. We also recognize the Chumash, Tataviam, Serrano, Cahuilla, Juaneño, and Luiseño People for the land that USC occupies around Southern California. We honor their past and present.
K-12 SCHOOLS
& DISTRICTS
Equipping educators and leaders with practically-useful, evidence-based strategies to effectively serve racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students and families.
RESEARCH & ASSESSMENT
We conduct rigorous, interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative research on a vast array of topics pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are especially well known for our assessments of climates in educational and workplace settings, policy and pay equity analyses, and studies of racial and gender gaps on a multitude of metrics. Research conducted by scholars on our full-time staff has been cited in over 20,000 published studies. Atlantic Philanthropies, the U.S. Department of Education, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates, Lumina, Ford, Kellogg, Sloan, College Futures, Weingart, Kresge, Walmart, and Open Society Foundations are among the funders of our research and partnerships.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, CNN, ESPN, NPR, HBO Sports, and hundreds of other media outlets have highlighted our studies and quoted our center experts. The Center is home to the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates, a peer-reviewed, expert validated quantitative survey that has been administered to more than 1.4 million undergraduates since its launch in 2019. We also have interviewed thousands of employees for workplace climate assessments in businesses, colleges and universities, and K-12 schools. Our research team is developing a trio of quantitative workplace climate surveys that will be available by Summer 2022.
LATEST NEWS
List of news on Race from USC and the USC Race & Equity Center
Harper, Emdin Ranked Among Most Influential
The 200 most influential professors in the field of education are ranked in Education Week each year. Two center scholars, Shaun Harper and Chris Emdin, are ranked #10 and #30, respectively, in the 2022 rankings [...]
Genius to Lead Center’s Youth Engagement and Community Partnerships
Long-time Columbia University Professor Christopher Emdin is joining the University of Southern California as a tenured full professor in January 2022. He will also hold the prestigious Robert A. Naslund endowed chair in curriculum and [...]
Higher Education Expert, HBCU Alumna and Trustee Joins Center
Danette Gerald Howard, a Lumina Foundation executive and nationally acclaimed higher education leader, has been named the USC Race and Equity Center’s inaugural Executive in Residence. Prior to becoming a foundation leader, Howard served as [...]
Jones Promoted to Professor, Assumes Center Executive Leadership Role
Brandi Jones has been promoted to professor of research at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. She has also joined the USC Race and Equity Center as our inaugural Chief Operating Officer [...]
Nike Multiyear DEI Learning Partnership
The USC Race and Equity Center is engaged in a robust, multidimensional partnership with Nike. Every aspect of this work is focused on strategically advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Over the next two years, [...]
Deep Engagement in Los Angeles and Inglewood K-12 Schools
At an October 2019 event on the University of Southern California campus, Austin Beutner, superintendent of the nation’s second-largest school district, announced a new partnership with the USC Race and Equity Center. “One of the [...]
