India Johnson, an assistant professor of psychology at Butler and the principal investigator, said the research team is basically going for “empirical receipts” because Black women like herself understand these issues from experience.

“I don’t think I ever had a Black woman professor in STEM,” said Johnson, who did her undergraduate at IUPUI and got a doctorate in social psychology from Ohio State University.

Johnson and her research partner, Eva Pietri, an assistant professor of psychology at IUPUI, know from previous research that Black women view Black people (men or women) as role models more than they view white women as role models.

Now, they’re researching what factors might make a non-Black person a more effective role model for college-aged Black women. The series of three studies started in September 2020. Johnson said they are halfway through the second study and will start the third study soon.