Congratulations to Jasmine M. Godwin on receiving a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)! The New Haven, Connecticut native, who completed a bachelor’s degree at Tuskegee University, is a second-year graduate student (MS/PhD) in the Department of Human Development and Family Science. Her program of research focuses on the Black Family unit and how systems such as racism and colorism influence the way families socialize their children.

Her NSF-GRFP research project will investigate the influence colorism messages African American fathers transmit have on their daughter’s self-esteem and dating preferences. She plans to eventually incorporate these findings into community-based programs that parents, and more specifically fathers, can attend to promoted healthy communication between themselves and their daughters around skin tone and colorism. After earning her PhD, she plans to pursue a career in academia as a faculty member at a R1 university. Jasmine is advised by Dr. Antoinette M. Landor, Associate Professor in HDFS.