About The Lab
The Dream Collab is a research collective that prioritizes authentic and meaningful collaboration with Black families, educators, community members, and policy makers to support Black girls' thriving. We focus on dreaming, broadly defined, around aspirations for healthy identity development, well-being, and academic engagement. We create space for dreaming to be multifaceted and holistic, emphasizing the variation in process to ensure all experiences are represented and valued. We believe that dreaming is resistance.
Faculty Director
Dr. Marketa Burnett is a faculty member in the Africana Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on Black childhood studies, family processes, and educational experiences that shape identity development and well-being among Black youth. Through the Dream Lab, she collaborates with families, educators, and community partners to support research and initiatives centered on Black girls’ development and academic engagement.
Research Focuses
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Black girls’ identity development
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Family and parental socialization processes
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Educational experiences and academic persistence
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Race and gender stereotypes in STEM pathways