Amplifying youth voices: lessons from a YPAR project on educational equity
Left to right: Shrutika Damle (Human Development ‘25), Kate McHale (Development Sociology ‘24), and Lulu Mikula (Human Development, ‘24)
This summer, PRYDE worked in collaboration with 4-H Career Explorations, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland County, and North Rockland High School to host a three-day youth participatory action research (YPAR) summit on Cornell’s campus in June 2023. The Youth Investigators In Action Summit presented an opportunity for ten participating students to lead their own research project that explored social inequities in higher education. Teens gained practice developing valuable research skills, such as conducting interviews, analyzing data, and sharing research findings with an audience.
PRYDE has had the pleasure of working with three student interns interested in positive youth development for the duration of this project. Lulu Mikula is a senior in the College of Human Ecology studying Human Development, Shrutika Damle is a junior in the College of Human Ecology studying Human Development, and Kate McHale is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences studying Development Sociology. These three interns developed, facilitated, and evaluated the Youth Investigators research summit alongside PRYDE staff, Dr. Kristen Elmore and Esther Kim. Below, the interns share their personal experiences on working with the Youth Investigators Program.
Shrutika Damle
Given my passion for youth development and social justice, I jumped at the opportunity to join the PRYDE Youth Investigators team this summer. While I had heard about YPAR and was excited to implement it, I had no idea what I was walking into. In our initial meeting, it became clear that the interns and I had a lot of creative freedom in shaping the three-day event. Although I had previous experience facilitating and creating lessons, this was the first time I found myself in such an active role. I thoroughly enjoyed program development and learned many valuable lessons on how to tailor content for a high school age group.My favorite part of the internship was witnessing our curriculum in action during the three-day event.
On the first day of the summit, our cohort of students landed on the research question: "How do social identities influence educational pathways?" Over the following two days, they gathered data and arrived at numerous insightful conclusions concerning the present education system at North Rockland High School and Cornell University. The youth saw a need for more minority representation on campus as well as curricular content. Additionally, they emphasized the importance of comprehensive financial aid packages to ensure that income is not a barrier to education.
On the final day, our Youth Investigators shared their findings and experiences with the broader 4-H community. As the youth were presenting, news broke that the Supreme Court had issued a verdict against the use of race-based affirmative action. Witnessing such relevant news coinciding with the culmination of the summit felt surreal. The juxtaposition between leading the youth to recognize current educational inequities while the Supreme Court reinterpreted the necessity of one of the leading methods of addressing such inequalities felt very dissonant. I wondered how the students would process this news, given what they had researched for the past three days.
To me, this unforeseen ending to the summit reinforced the significance of the work the interns and I did. Throughout the three days, I could see them develop the skills to advocate for positive change and bridge the gap between research and action. I hope that our work left the students better equipped to conduct independent research and come to their own conclusions on social issues. Overall, the timing of the Supreme Court’s ruling highlighted the relevance of our curriculum's topic and, more importantly, reinforced the importance of empowering youth.
LULU MIKULA
I joined the PRYDE team as a Summer Youth Development Intern due to my deep interest and desire to get involved with the PRYDE program within the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR), ever since I first started researching Cornell’s Human Development program before transferring here as a junior in the fall of 2022. Thanks to Dr. Kristen Elmore, I was able to discover a course to take during my first fall semester here that was run through the BCTR: Critical Consciousness and Youth Development; little did I know we would cross paths again the following summer. This course remains one of my favorites to this date, and it only solidified my intent to somehow become involved with the center. During spring of 2023 – my first spring – as I was looking for summer internships, I found this one and I knew it would be perfect for me. The best part is, all of my expectations were wildly exceeded – including what I would learn, what I would gain, and my gratitude to be a part of these youths’ educational journey.
Program implementation was definitely my favorite part of the experience. During implementation, alongside my fellow interns, I was able to work on many leadership skills – some of which included facilitation and public speaking. However, the best part of the program was connecting with the students and learning about what they want to do with their lives. It was this personal aspect of the internship that will continue to leave the most lasting impact on me. The experience of having assisted a group of young people to overcome challenges and realize their goals is something I will never forget.
Even after the program implementation, I am still learning. The team is currently working on the post-program data analysis by using programs like SPSS/PSPP to sort through what youth thought of our program – what they enjoyed, did not enjoy, found enlightening, would change, and such. With this data, the goal is to find out what we can do to better the program in the future and further enhance the impact of the Youth Investigators Program on youth in New York State.
Personally, I could not have imagined a better summer internship fit for myself. Our team navigated creating a program, facilitating a program, analyzing a program, and will soon be improving a program. I can confidently say that the PRYDE Youth Summit taught me just as much as it taught the youth, and these skills will be taken with me as I approach my senior year at Cornell and beyond. My biggest takeaway – other than gaining concrete facilitation skills and learning to use data analysis programs – is to not underestimate the knowledge, kindness, ambition, and impact that future generations of potential social sciences researchers are bringing to the table.
KATE MCHALE
As a 4-H alumna myself, I was thrilled to reconnect with 4-H youth development programming this summer through my internship with PRYDE. Facilitating this Youth Summit as part of the 4-H Career Explorations summer program for youth highlighted the importance of empowering young people to engage in critical thinking and analysis to create positive change in their communities.
One of the most rewarding aspects of this project was witnessing the students' deep engagement with the research process. The youth participants took charge of developing a research question dedicated to exploring how social identity influences students’ educational pathways after high school. These students shared their valuable insights on how we could create more opportunities for success among their peers. This topic could not have been more fitting for our current time. Equality in education is too often attacked and politicized, and working alongside these students provided a refreshing, valuable perspective.
One interaction with a young student really stood out to me for its applicability to the issues we are currently facing in today's education system. While working with a small group of students and helping them come up with recommendations for their upcoming dissemination activity, one student had a powerful story to share about his journey towards understanding equality and social justice. He shared about a book he read in English class that opened his eyes to the importance of diversity, equality, and acceptance. His recommendation to school administration was to make more books like that available to students through school libraries.
This student’s experience goes to show how reading and literature can play a big role in shaping young minds and helping them navigate and understand the world around them. Yet, in today’s educational system, books such as these that promote themes of diversity and acceptance are too often challenged and even banned from schools. While students who are immersed in the educational system day in and day out advocate for more literature that encourages inclusivity, decision-makers seem to be moving in the opposite direction. This experience, and hearing the students’ recommendations for how they hope to achieve inclusivity in education, reaffirmed the importance of involving youth in decisions that affect them. YPAR programs like Youth Investigators that encourage active youth engagement can provide an opportunity for young people to make sense of the world around them and create positive change.
My journey this summer with PRYDE has been a wonderful experience, reminding me of the incredible power of youth voices in driving positive change within education. Through my work with these exceptional students, I have witnessed the profound impact that meaningful conversations, thoughtful research, and youth-centric advocacy can have on promoting educational achievement and opportunity for all students. It is so important that we empower and listen to youth, as they hold unique perspectives and experiences that are essential in creating a more inclusive and equitable educational system for all.