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Margaret Kerr

Assistant Professor

The School of Human Ecology | Department of Human Development & Family Studies

Hometown: South Lyon, Michigan

Margaret Kerr, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Human Development & Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology and a State Specialist in Vulnerable and Underserved Children with the Division of Extension. She received her doctorate in Positive Developmental Psychology from Claremont Graduate University. Her work focuses on examining parents’ emotional experiences, with a particular focus on the factors that influence how adults perceive and experience parenting, including attachment, gender, relationship quality, and socioeconomic status. In her outreach work through Extension, she develops and implements parent-focused programming, including programs for fathers and a program to help parents discuss race and racism with their children.

Talks:

Talking to Your Kids about Race and Racism

Want to discuss race and racism with your kids but don’t know where to start? Research shows that white parents discuss race and racism with their children much later and less frequently than families of color. Learn strategies for starting and maintaining these important conversations.

Parental Burnout during COVID-19

Parenting young children was already hard and then there was a global pandemic! Discuss what we know about how parents fared during this time and strategies for coping with stress during parenting.

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