Left: Linda Euto. Right: Rosalinda Vasquez Maury
The Lender Center for Social Justice has granted nine awards to support new faculty research projects examining factors contributing to or addressing the racial wealth gap in the United States. Among these projects is “Does Military Service Mitigate the U.S. Racial Wealth Gap? Overlooked Pathways for Underrepresented Minorities in Public Service,” which is currently underway with a team that includes two members from the IVMF: Director Rosalinda Vasquez Maury and Associate Director Linda Euto.
This project explores how military service intersects with racial wealth disparities. Researchers will look at military service as a means of economic advancement and a way to overcome social barriers that may hinder underrepresented minorities who are pursuing post-service career advancement and entrepreneurship.
The awards are funded by a 2022 MetLife Foundation grant that supports research and community programming over three years to examine the racial wealth gap’s root causes and ideas that may resolve its economic and social inequalities, says Kendall Phillips, Lender Center interim director. The awards are part of the Lender Center for Social Justice initiative led by the Office of Strategic Initiatives.
The racial wealth gap is an ongoing issue that undermines potential economic and social progress and opportunities for members of underserved and underrepresented communities, according to Kira Reed, Lender Center senior research associate and associate professor in the Whitman School of Management.
“These research projects are noteworthy because of their unique courses of inquiry, their highly inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional nature and their close engagements with Syracuse community members and organizations,” says Phillips.