Laura Brady

Laura Brady is a senior researcher at AIR. Her work focuses on identifying systemic, cultural, and psychological barriers to educational equity. Through research-practice partnerships and collaborations with researchers, educators, and curriculum developers, Dr. Brady uses experimental, quantitative, qualitative, and participatory research methodologies to design, implement, and test strategies for advancing equity in K-12 and higher education. She connects research and practice through designing and facilitating equity-focused professional learning. She also provides support for strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring of equity initiatives, and for fostering inclusive and productive conversations about educational equity. 

Before joining AIR, Dr. Brady was an associate research scientist at the University of Michigan, where she led the research arm of a research-practice partnership focused creating culturally inclusive K-12 learning environments. She was also a co-investigator of a longitudinal research project examining the effects of a professional development program focused on creating classroom cultures rooted in principles of growth mindset and cultural inclusion. As the co-founding executive director of the Research for Indigenous Social Action and Equity Center (RISE) at the University of Michigan, Dr. Brady also directed a variety of projects aimed at advancing equity for Indigenous students, including a pipeline program to recruit and train aspiring Indigenous social and cultural psychologists and an NSF-funded research program exploring the cultural and ideological roots of bias against Indigenous Peoples.

Dr. Brady is currently the principal investigator of projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the AIR Equity Initiative and the project director of two early-phase Education Innovation Research grants from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Her research has been published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, Social Psychology of Education, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and other peer-reviewed journal, as well as practitioner-oriented outlets such as Education Week.