In order to support organized after-school activity participation for all students, particularly those who have been historically marginalized, our research addresses the following overarching questions:
How do we make after-school activities positive, promotive contexts for all youth?
What are the predictors of youth’s participation in organized after-school activities across diverse youth?
What are diverse youth’s experiences within organized after-school activities and how do these experiences promote their positive development?
How do race/ethnicity, immigration, socioeconomic status, and culture matter in these activity-related processes?
What do culturally responsive activities look like and what are the most effective culturally responsive practices that staff use in activities?
Below are some of our most recent findings (click on the paper citations to learn more!):
Organized after-school activities are valuable. In addition to preparing adolescents for greater academic success in late adolescence, they can also help adolescents become contributing members of society. Furthermore, afterschool programs have the potential to help Latinx adolescents engage in positive behaviors associated with traditional cultural values of respeto, familism, and religiosity. (Liu, Simpkins, & Vandell, 2021; Lin et al., 2018).
Adolescents from underserved communities are more likely to have positive experiences in after-school activities when they feel their culture, humanity, and language are respected. One way to promote positive experiences for adolescents from underserved communities is by utilizing culturally responsive practices, or specific strategies that are sensitive to the different cultures that youth are a part of. Program staff can use culturally responsive practices to help adolescents feel more connected to after-school activities, peers, and staff. (Liu, Simpkins & Lin, 2018; Ma, Simpkins, & Puente, 2021; Yu et al., 2021, Yu et al., 2022a).
Culturally responsive practices are important because they can promote adolescents’ academic outcomes (e.g., problem-solving skills and motivational beliefs), future STEM career aspirations, and social-emotional skills (e.g., relationship skills). (Soto-Lara et al., 2021; Yu et al., 2021, Yu et al., 2022).
It is critical to ensure parents are connected and involved in after-school activities as parents shape adolescents' enrollment decisions and continued participation in these activities. One way to get Latinx parents connected and involved is by incorporating cultural content into activities, because they can see their culture is reflected and respected in the activities their children are engaging in (Lin et al., 2022; Lin et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2018; Kang et al., 2017).
The key to culturally responsive practices is that they are responsive. Narrow or inaccurate views of youth's culture, even with the best intentions, can have negative consequences. (Liu, Simpkins & Lin, 2018, Ettekal et al., 2020).
Race/ethnic discrimination can happen in after-school activities. After-school staff need to pay close attention to microaggressions that occur in after-school spaces in order to increase Latinx adolescents’ participation in these programs. (Ma et al., 2020; Lin et al., 2016)
Our after-school activities research is supported by the following grants:
Pantano, A. (Principal Investigator), & Simpkins, S. D. (co-Principal Investigator), DRL-2215695: Collaborative research: Investigating the most impactful culturally-responsive informal pedagogical practices for STEM afterschool programs engaging marginalized youth, National Science Foundation ($1,549,000), 9/1/2022-8/30/2026.
Tulagan, N. (Principal Investigator) & Simpkins, S. D. (Co-Principal Investigator & Mentor), NSF-2004278: SBP: Harnessing Latinx parents' math support to increase adolescents' math motivation and achievement, National Science Foundation, 9/1/2020-8/30/2022.
Pantano, A., Tseng, L. S. (Principal Investigators), & Simpkins, S. D. (co-Principal Investigator) UC Links: UCI Campus, University of California University-Community Links Program, 2019-2021.
Simpkins, S. D. (Principal Investigator) UC Links: UCI Campus, University of California University-Community Links Program ($50,000), 2019-2021.
Vandell, D. (Principal Investigator) & Simpkins, S. D. (Co-Principal Investigator), G2020-06433: Impact of program and practice characteristics on participant outcomes, Mott Foundation, 1/1/2020-12/31/2022.
Simpkins, S. D. (Principal Investigator) UC Links: UCI Campus, University of California University-Community Links Program, 2019-2021.
Simpkins, S. D. (Principal Investigator), Vandell, D., Eccles, J., & Zarrett, N. 161089: Enduring character virtues: How after-school organized activities support character development from childhood through young adulthood, Templeton Foundation, 7/1/2018-6/30/2021.
Yu, M. (Principal Investigator) & Simpkins, S. D. (Co-Principal Investigator & Mentor), NSF-1809208: Exploring high-quality and culturally responsive math afterschool program practices for under-represented minority youth, National Science Foundation, 7/1/2018-1/30/2021.
Vandell, D. (Principal Investigator) & Simpkins, S. D. (Co-Principal Investigator), G2017-00786: Impact of program and practice characteristics on participant outcomes, Mott Foundation, 1/1/2017-12/31/2019.
Simpkins, S. D. (Principal Investigator), & Jenel, L. UC Links: UCI Campus, University of California University-Community Links Program, 2017-2019.
Simpkins, S. D. (Principal Investigator), Menjivar, C., & Millsap, R. 181735 Distal factors and Proximal settings as predictors of Latino adolescents' activities: Insights from mixed methods, William T. Grant Foundation, 2013-2017.
Schaefer, D. (Principal Investigator), & Simpkins, S. D. (co-Principal Investigator). 1R21-HD071885 Exploring new mechanisms to explain how adolescent health shapes friend selection, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2012 –2015.
Simpkins, S. D. (Principal Investigator). The determinants of Mexican-origin adolescents' participation in organized activities: The role of culture, settings and the individual, William T. Grant Foundation, 2007 –2012.
Publications and Presentations
Click on a topic below to view a list of the publications and presentations to date from the research project.