Monique M. Jethwani

Dr. Monique Jethwani is a developmental psychologist whose research examines student perceptions of school belonging, and how adolescents navigate the intersection of race, gender and social class in the school context. She joined the faculty at the Columbia School of Social Work in 2012. She previously served as a postdoctoral research scientist at CSSW’s Center for Research on Fathers, Children, and Family Well Being. Most recently, Dr. Jethwani served as the Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Academic Affairs. 

Dr. Jethwani has decades of experience examining human development in educational contexts, both in the United States and abroad, consequently identifying best practices. With funding from the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Jethwani was director of the Safe Harbor program at Safe Horizon, where she managed the local operation (five sites) and national replication (ten sites) of a comprehensive school-based violence prevention program. Her mixed-methods doctoral dissertation, entitled When Teachers Treat Me Well, I Think I Belong: School Belonging and the Psychological and Academic Well-Being of Adolescent Girls in India, earned her the NYU Steinhardt award for outstanding research contribution. Her work in Bermuda focused on the lives of unemployed young Black Bermudian men and the gender gap in educational attainment. Educational policy recommendations were made directly to the Bermudian premier and were featured on the front page of The Bermuda Royal Gazette. 

For the past ten years, Dr. Jethwani has evaluated several projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency that aim to engage middle school, high school and college students, and their teachers, in robotics and cyber security activities. As the lead investigator on a 3,000,000 grant with the National Science Foundation, Dr. Jethwani identified strategies to better engage female and minority students in STEM related activities and careers. 

Dr. Jethwani holds a BA from Barnard College, an EdM from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a PhD from the New York University School of Culture, Education Human Development.