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Bridging research and practice to spark change

Stanford SPARQ is a behavioral science “do tank” at Stanford University. We build research-driven partnerships with industry leaders and changemakers to combat bias, reduce disparities, and drive culture change. We work in criminal justice, economic mobility, education, health, and media + tech.
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Tackling Bias and Inequality: Intentional Culture Change and Research-Driven Partnerships

New work from the SPARQ team highlights the power of culture and research-driven partnerships for creating more equitable organizations and communities.

Left: Neon sign saying "change," Right: Parked police cars with cruiser lights on

Calls for culture change are everywhere these days. But what does culture change really look like? In “We Built This Culture (So We Can Change It)” in American Psychologist, Executive Director MarYam Hamedani, Faculty Co-Directors Hazel Markus and Jennifer Eberhardt, and Associate Director of Criminal Justice Partnerships Rebecca Hetey share a roadmap for intentional culture change and tackling inequality in organizations and communities. They use the culture cycle as a tool to map and track culture change efforts across domains.

In their Daedalus essay, “When the Cruiser Lights Come On,” Hetey, Hamedani, Markus, and Eberhardt tell the story of SPARQ’s research-driven partnership with the Oakland Police Department and their efforts to reduce racial disparities in policing. Using the intentional culture change framework, they describe how their novel work leveraging body-worn camera footage to understand and improve police-community relations unfolded and how partnerships between researchers and practitioners can address inequality. 


 

Updates

Job Opportunity - Lab Manager

SPARQ is hiring a lab manager to join our team beginning in the summer of 2024! This position is an excellent fit for recent graduates looking to strengthen their research skills before applying to graduate school or working in a research role in industry, government, or the nonprofit world. Apply by February 5 for first consideration.



 

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