The Center for Advancing Racial-Ethnic Equity

Dr. Leath is junior scholar who is receiving mentorship support from Dr. Murry, and building collaborative relationships with other scholars in the lab. Dr. Leath studies variation in the family and school-based experiences of Black youth and young adults, with a particular emphasis on how Black women and girls use personal and cultural assets to offset bias and discrimination.

Dr. Seanna (Shawna) Leath (Leeth) is an assistant professor in the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department at Washington University in St. Louis. She directs the Fostering Healthy Identities and Resilience (FHIRE) Lab, which focuses on the holistic development and wellbeing of Black girls and women within their families, schools, and communities. She was the first in her family to attend college – she went to Pomona College in Southern California and earned her B.A. in Psychology & Africana Studies – and then earned a PhD in Education & Psychology at the University of Michigan. A number of her current research projects focus on either (1) identity development – like how young Black women learn to reject messages and navigate experiences that harm their wellbeing, or (2) Black family processes – like how Black parents try to prepare and protect their daughters from misogynoir – or anti-Black misogyny.