Colin Powell School names Social Mobility Lab research grant recipients

The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York has announced its 2026-27 cohort of Social Mobility Lab research grantees. These 12 scholars, dedicated to advancing social mobility through innovative research, are:

Alexander Adames, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, who will examine social mobility from a life course perspective by developing a measure of lifetime social mobility, instead of traditional measures that focus on a person’s early 30s;

Alexander Browman, assistant professor of psychology at the College of the Holy Cross, who will identify the educational experiences that strengthen the beliefs of first-year college students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds about the attainability of mobility, and examine whether these experiences can strengthen their academic motivation and outcomes;

Prabal De, chair and professor of economics and business at The City College of New York, and Zixiao Feng, doctoral candidate in economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, who will explore the impact of lower tuition rates on intergenerational mobility;

Gul Gunaydin, professor of psychology, and Emre Selçuk, professor of social psychology at Sabanci University in Istanbul, who will bring together first-year students from different socioeconomic backgrounds for brief, casual conversations, and examine whether these interactions help students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds build cross-class connections and gain better access to opportunities and resources;

Ivan Hernandez, assistant professor of psychology and child development at California Polytechnic State University, and David Silverman, assistant professor of psychology at Yale University, who will examine how community colleges can communicate social mobility opportunities in ways that help students take meaningful steps toward transferring and improving their long-term outcomes;

Hedda Phan, doctoral candidate in economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, who aims to discover the impact of affirmative action policies in college admissions on the intergenerational income mobility of minorities; and

Paul Piff, associate professor of psychology, and doctoral candidates Anais Geronimo Jimenez and Rudy Medina at the University of California at Irvine, who will investigate how familial interdependence, rather than being an obstacle, can be an asset for students from working-class backgrounds as they go to college, so that they need not abandon their core identities.

Social Mobility Lab Director Bob McKinnon announced the new cohort of grantees at the Lab’s Second Annual Summit, held at CCNY. At this year’s Summit, attendees heard six current grantees share their research on social mobility, exploring issues such as family dynamics, effective supports, and rethinking how we measure and create social mobility.

“With this new round of grants, the Lab has now funded 36 researchers at 19 colleges and universities throughout the United States and, for the first time this year, abroad,” said McKinnon. “We’re so excited by this cohort of grantees as their work bridges scientific inquiry and real-world application. Each project is designed with translational impact at its core and the potential to meaningfully improve lives."

During the 2026-27 academic year, grant recipients will participate in discussions and activities aimed at enhancing the translational impact of their research. In 2027, they will share their findings with students, faculty, administrators, and staff during the Social Mobility Lab’s next Annual Summit.

“Central to our mission at the Colin Powell School is the commitment to expand opportunity for students from communities historically excluded from power,” said Colin Powell School Dean Marc Ostfield. “These research projects all have the potential to generate actionable insights and inform policies and practices that foster a deeper understanding of social mobility and make social mobility more accessible for those looking to move up in life.”

About the Social Mobility Lab
The Social Mobility Lab at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York aims to discover new ways to accelerate and expand opportunity for our students, their families and the communities they represent. The Lab supports research, teaching, public discussions, and experimentation — all geared to promote a better understanding of social mobility and the role higher education plays in advancing it. The Lab is unique among organizations focused on social mobility because it is community-based and geared toward implementation of solutions: as we learn, we will translate that knowledge into programs and practices to help our students move up in life and will engage the people and communities who can most benefit from what we are doing at every stage of our work.