Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Katrinell M. Davis
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: she/her
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr. Davis 
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): kmdavis3@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Social Sciences and Public Policy
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Sociology and African American Studies
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Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: Social Classes and Inequality: Origins, Realities, and Implications
Project Keywords: social inequality; textbook; social problems
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 4
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Open to all majors

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: Yes
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: Partially Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: Five hours per week.
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
Work will contribute to a textbook that is concerned with how social inequalities are created, maintained, and confronted in modern US society. This textbook project will offer content that engages students' interests with information that extends beyond the demographic profiles offered in most social inequality textbooks.

A good percentage of leading textbooks are readers that are more suitable for graduate students than undergraduate students, based on the level of reading material difficulty. In many cases, these well-received textbooks lack discussion of foundational terms, conditions, and institutional circumstances that create and maintain the social inequalities engaged throughout the text.  This project is designed to assist instructors’ capacity to meet learning goals in lower and intermediate level courses. 

My textbook project’s unique contribution involves an attempt to compliment the macrolevel focus in conventional social inequality textbooks with attention to the local and state-level decision-making that help shape and maintain unequal conditions between social groups.  This textbook will also enable students to learn about conditions across various social groups that we oftentimes ignore (e.g., people with special needs, the elderly, and residents in poor communities).


Research Tasks:
Students will conduct literature reviews on different topics pertaining to social inequality.
Students will write summaries of key literature on a sub-field.
Students will write essay and multiple choice questions for assigned readings.
Students will help create target concept questions and exercises for assigned readings.
Students will collect demographic data and news stories about one or two social groups/or problems. 
Students will look for community and advocacy groups, at the national level, working to address the inequalities examined.


Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Required: Data entry, MS Excel


Mentoring Philosophy:
I have had the pleasure of mentoring many talented graduate and undergraduate students throughout my career. As a university professor, I strive to provide mentees with an environment conducive to learning, knowledge that will improve their ability to articulate their individual standpoints, and constructive feedback that will help them instead of discouraging them. 

Students learn skills best through an interactive teaching style that demands their participation and challenges them to think. As such, when mentoring an undergraduate student, my style or approach is interactive and respectful.  Towards this end, my approach to training the next generation of scholars and advocates involves a great deal of appreciation of their time and efforts.  Students are provided clear aims and project tasks.  I make every effort to make my assignments are concise and that people don’t feel lost in the assignment. I also provide examples of responses to the assignment, if necessary.  Before starting work as a research mentee, I meet with students to learn about their interests as well as their current strengths and challenges.  To discover what motivates mentees, I ask them to talk about their goals for the experience and how much time they intend to devote to the collaboration.  I also ask mentees about their work and class schedule because I wouldn't want our work to interfere with other responsibilities. Finally, to encourage a free exchange of feedback, I ask my mentees to reach out via phone, email, or remote interface to discuss any concerns or questions that emerge. 


Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: https://www.katrinelldavis.com/
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
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UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2023
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=CeohUrYibgbjOTCbbmeNvJYf_Z6qMWZYjdwC-KU2jCA