Dr. Carson Byrd

Biography

Carson Byrd is an Associate Research Scientist at the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education. His research examines the mechanisms of racism in higher education and broader society, focusing on the racialization of knowledge production and critical quantitative approaches to improving the study of social inequalities. His current work explores the impacts of affirmative action bans on intersectional inequalities affecting student degree paths and experiences. Byrd investigates components of departmental microclimates in STEM fields and their influence on racial inequities within these departments. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation and was selected as a William T. Grant Advanced Quantitative Computational Scholar at the Institute for Critical Quantitative, Computational, & Mixed Methodologies. Byrd is the author of "Diversity Numbers: Achieving Racial Equity on Campus" and "Poison Ivy: Race Relations and the Reproduction of Inequality at Elite College Campuses," and co-editor of "Intersectionality and Higher Education: Identity and Inequality on College Campuses." His work appears in prestigious journals and he writes public essays on racial inequalities in higher education for popular forums such as The Washington Post and Chronicle of Higher Education. Before joining CSHPE, Byrd was a Senior Fellow-in-Residence at the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan, and an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Louisville.

Research Interests

Courses