Skip to main content

Brenda Straka

Profile picture for Brenda Straka

Contact Information

603 E. Daniel
Rm 619
603 E Daniel
M/C 716
Champaign, IL 61820

Research Areas

Assistant Professor

Biography

Dr. Straka is a social and developmental psychologist studying the ways people navigate exclusion and discrimination and also construct social identities across multiple group memberships. 

For prospective students: Dr. Straka will be reviewing PhD and MSPS applications for the 2025-26 admissions cycle.

Research Interests

In one line of research, Dr. Straka explores the ways historically marginalized and underrepresented groups (e.g., Multiracial, Latine, Native American people, first-generation students) experience exclusion and negotiate their group-based identities. In a second line of research, she investigates the developmental cognitive foundations that underlie our understanding of group membership and identity.

Dr. Straka's research aims to bring attention to identity-based exclusion experiences while simultaneously pushing for inclusivity and representation in research.

Education

Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Postdoctoral DRIVE Fellow, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2024

Ph.D., Experimental Social Psychology, Duke University, 2022

M.A., Experimental Social Psychology, Duke University, 2020

B.A., Psychology & Cognitive Science, University of Virginia, 2017