Laura Wray-Lake

(she/her)

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I am a Professor of Social Welfare in the Luskin School of Public Affairs at University of California, Los Angeles. I received a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University, after receiving a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University and a master's degree in psychology from Bucknell University. My expertise is in adolescent development and civic engagement. My research aims to explain the development of civic engagement across adolescence and young adulthood and identify factors that enhance youth civic engagement. This interest is grounded in the assumption that adolescents and young adults hold abundant potential to act as positive change agents and address society’s problems on local, national, and global scales. I have written and contributed to nearly 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters on various topics including young people’s community service, political action and activism, identity, decision-making, school and community experiences, and anti-racism. My research has advanced knowledge of youth civic engagement over time and across social and cultural contexts using quantitative and qualitative methods. My work has been funded by federal agencies and foundations, and my new book, published with Cambridge Press, is called Young Black Changemakers and the Road to Racial Justice.

Experience

  • 2016–present
    Professor, University of California, Los Angeles

Education

  • 2010 
    The Pennsylvania State University , PhD in Human Development & Family Studies
  • 2004 
    Bucknell University , MS in General-Experimental Psychology
  • 2002 
    Wake Forest University , BA in Psychology

Publications

  • 2025
    Anti-Youth Ageism: What It Is and Why It Matters, Child Development Perspectives
  • 2024
    Young Black Changemakers and the Road to Racial Justice, Cambridge University Press
  • 2023
    Adolescents' developing awareness of inequality: Racial and ethnic differences in trajectories, Child Development
  • 2023
    Civic engagement across adolescence and early adulthood, APA Handbook of Adolescent and Young Adult Development
  • 2022
    Dismantling systems of racism and oppression during adolescence: An agenda for anti‐racist research, Journal of Research on Adolescence
  • 2021
    Using Developmental Science to Inform Voting Age Policy, Rutgers Law Review

Grants and Contracts

  • 2022
    Examining Today’s Social Change Agents and Their Opportunities to Grow and Thrive
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    AmeriCorp
  • 2019
    Is Los Angeles Ready to Lower the Voting Age?
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    John Randolph & Dora Haynes Foundation
  • 2017
    A Multimethod Examination of Urban Youth Civic Engagement
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    AmeriCorps
  • 2016
    Advancing Scientific Knowledge of the Links between Civic Engagement, Developmental Competencies, and Ecological Assets across Childhood and Adolescence
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation
  • 2015
    Examining Developmental, Contextual, and Historical Effects of Civic Engagement during the Transition to Adulthood: An Integrative Interdisciplinary Approach
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Spencer Foundation
  • 2012
    The Development of Engaged Citizenship in Childhood and Adolescence: Examining the Role of Character, Competencies, and Contexts
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Templeton Foundation
  • 2008
    Values and Substance use: A Social Responsibility Approach to Prevention
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    National Institute on Drug Abuse

Professional Memberships

  • Society for Research on Adolescence
  • Society for Research on Child Development
  • Society for Social Work and Research

Contact Laura for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision