Poverty and social policy

The Ford School of Public Policy is happy to announce the Dean’s Symposium, which will take place April 11 and 12 at Weill Hall, with the theme, “Policy Innovation for Our Times.” The two days will feature keynote appearances by voting rights...

During the Winter Term 2023, Ford School students were involved in projects with federal, state, county, city, and township governments, school districts, non-profit organizations, and commissions. They worked with the school’s numerous research...

In their attempts to reform the cash bail system, jurisdictions across the country are turning to automated pretrial risk assessment tools that ‘predict’ if a defendant will be arrested for a new crime while waiting for trial or will fail to appear...

Elected officials from local, county, and state government came to the Ford School to hear about the potential for collaborations with their offices and the School’s faculty, research centers, and students.  Fifteen members of the Michigan State...

 The Ford School is pleased to announce an exciting lineup for the winter 2023 Policy Talks @ the Ford School series and other special public events hosted with partners from across campus. Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise...

India's top court upheld a woman's right to an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy, regardless of marital status, a widely hailed decision by women's rights activists.  The right to abortion has proved contentious globally after the U.S. Supreme...

The Ford School is pleased to announce an exciting lineup for the fall 2022 Policy Talks @ the Ford School series and other special public events hosted with partners from across campus. We are hosting distinguished policymakers, scholars,...

The use of large language models could transform many facets of modern life, including how policymakers assess public sentiment about pending legislation, how patients evaluate their medical care and how scientists could translate research findings...

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy, director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, shares her thoughts on International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In an episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, produced by...

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy is calling for a change in innovation policy to center “equity as a public value” as the scientific community ponders “the next 75 years of science policy.” In her essay Innovation as a Force for Equity,...

Beza Merid was a faculty affiliate with STPP when he became a research fellow in cardiology at Michigan Medicine. Now at Arizona State University, he appreciates how influencing innovation policy can create better health outcomes for underserved...

The Ford School of Public Policy is a top-ranked public policy school dedicated to preparing diverse leaders to take on society’s most pressing challenges and make transformational discoveries through cutting-edge research. Experts from the Ford...

Government investment and encouragement of innovation needs to expand its scope to consider the social and economic effects on marginalized groups. In a paper published by The Next System Project, Ford School public policy professor Shobita...

Federal lawmakers continue to seek out University of Michigan faculty members to lend their expertise and knowledge to help inform federal policy. In the last year, 13 U-M faculty members and researchers testified at 14 congressional hearings...

Machine learning is increasingly used for government decision-making to predict adverse outcomes. For instance, many cities and states in the U.S. have adopted pretrial risk assessments that inform decisions about whether to release criminal...

Detroit Public TV's One Detroit program looked at the racial disparities inherent in law enforcement's use of facial recognition technology, making reference to a study published in August 2020 by the Ford School's Shobita Parthasarathy.  "We have...

The routes and schedules of public transit, the presence or absence of sidewalks, the availability of different transportation options, and the design of highways that have divided cities—these are examples of aspects of transportation systems that...

Professors Natasha Pilkauskas and Kaitlin Raimi have received promotions to associate professor, with tenure, at the Ford School. Their status was approved by the U-M Board of Regents at their meeting on May 20.  "Natasha Pilkauskas is deepening...

The global effort to develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines has progressed despite myriad challenges. Yet the final step—shots in arms—meets resistance among some that can't easily be overcome by science and supply chains. Vaccine hesitancy—a...

Melvin Washington is an alumnus of the Ford School’s Master of Public Policy Program and the Science, Technology, & Public Policy Graduate Certificate Program. In his role as a Program Associate at the Vera Institute of Justice, he puts this passion...

Pursuing energy and climate innovations grows ever more critical, but must include the involvement and participation of marginalized, vulnerable communities from the beginning. That's the message Ford School professor and director of the Science,...

The Ford School marked Black History Month by lifting up Black voices with a series of discussions about identifying inequities in society and seeking policy solutions to address them. Research centers, student groups, faculty, staff, and alumni all...

On February 25, Shobita Parthasarathy testified before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies. The hearing included four invited experts to speak about energy and climate innovation issues....

As facial recognition technology has become more commonplace in law enforcement, some schools have considered implementing facial recognition technology on their respective campuses. However, after public backlash over privacy concerns, many...

Emphasizing a need to pay attention to marginalized communities, Shobita Parthasarathy says "Giving people more involvement in decision-making about what research is prioritized and how it is carried out could help "align government's values with...

As the Biden administration embarks on its first hundred days, experts from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have produced a series of policy briefs in their areas of expertise. All of the prepared briefs can be downloaded here: Ali on...

"What an incredibly important and forward-thinking move to include social perspectives on science and tech policy in the office," said Shobita Parthasarathy about Alondra Nelson, the new deputy director for science and society in the White House...

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed policymaking biases that have ignored poor and marginalized communities, argues Ford school professor Shobita Parthasarathy. In a paper, Innovation Policy, Structural Inequality, and COVID-19, published in the...