Sara Goodkind earned a PhD in social work and sociology, a graduate certificate in women’s studies, and an MSW from the University of Michigan. She holds the Philip Hallen Chair in Community Health and Social Justice and is currently serving as PhD Program Director in the School of Social Work. Dr. Goodkind is a critical feminist scholar whose work examines the structural roots of what are often perceived as individual-level problems. Specifically, much of her research and scholarship focus on social service programs and systems that work with young people, concentrating on young people’s experiences in educational, child welfare, and juvenile legal systems and how these systems both construct and meet the needs of the young people they serve. Dr. Goodkind’s research examines and exposes institutional biases and systemic inequities, tracing young people’s pathways through systems and providing evidence and recommendations for systems and policy change. Dr. Goodkind developed her research interests through her work with young people as a teacher, mentor, facilitator, and social worker, and she is engaged in collaborative community-engaged research and advocacy aimed at effecting systemic change.
