School of Social Work News

Professor Daphne Watkins is the principal investigator in a new R01 research grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute titled “Addressing Structural Racism in Heart Failure Care and Outcomes: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of The Social Structure of Care Delivery.” The goal of the project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of structural barriers as well as facilitators for equitable care and outcomes, and to develop a best practices toolkit to address structural racism and discrimination in heart failure care. 

"Addressing racism and discrimination at the structural level is essential if we want to move toward health equity in heart failure care and outcomes,” said Watkins.  “I am excited to be a part of such a dynamic team of researchers and clinicians who want to understand and improve heart failure delivery networks within the social structure of care delivery. In the long term, our goal is to advance equitable care and outcomes for patients.”

Daphne Watkins was appointed as the Letha A. Chadiha Collegiate Professor of Social Work. Watkins is the founding director of the Gender and Health Research (GendHR) Lab, the Certificate Program in Mixed Methods Research, and the award-winning Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project, which leverages technology to provide mental health education and social support for young Black men.

Watkins’ research focuses on how gender differences and health disparities influence the mental health of Black Americans, with the aim of increasing what we know about mental disorders and how they impact the health and health behaviors of Black men. She has built an interdisciplinary conceptual framework of mental health that integrates role socialization and intersectional understanding of the cultural positions of Black men given additional other social identities of age, education, ethnicity, social support, and life stress. Watkins is also a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor.

Professor Daphne Watkins’ book "Secondary Data in Mixed Methods Research" has won a 2024 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association. The award recognizes excellence in first edition textbooks and learning materials. Works are judged by textbook authors and subject matter experts for their merits in four areas: pedagogy, content/scholarship, writing, and appearance and design.

Professor Daphne Watkins is the co-editor of “Health Promotion with Adolescent Boys and Young Men of Colour: Global Strategies for Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice in Context.” The book unpacks the complex intersections between age, race and gender in the diverse lives of young males of color.

Professor Daphne Watkins’ new book, “Secondary Data in Mixed Methods Research,” has been released as part of Sage Publishing’s Mixed Methods Research Series. It is the first book to focus on the use of secondary, or existing, data in mixed methods research, and explains how to find and evaluate sources of secondary data through research design, and writing and reporting. "Writing this book was both hard work and heart work. Few scholars of color serve as thought leaders in mixed methods research, but now is the time for us to adapt traditional research approaches so that they help us serve our communities and our needs,” says Watkins. “I hope my contribution to the field will not only help scholars complete their mixed methods projects with secondary data but also inspire them to identify the gaps in our field and fill them."

Professor Daphne Watkins has received the 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award. Watkins is a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor who studies behavioral interventions for historically marginalized groups, mixed methods approaches to research in context, and leadership development and organizational structures. She is the Director of the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Center for Health Equity and Research Training. 

"The SSW Distinguished Faculty Award means a lot to me. As someone trained in anthropology and public health, this acknowledgment speaks to the respect my colleagues have for the interdisciplinary nature of my work and what I bring to the School. Social work has been my home for well over a decade, but not without some uncertainty on my part. Early in my career, I wondered if I could truly embody social work’s values in my research, teaching and service. This award confirms I am not only working hard to represent the School in a positive light globally and domestically but that the faculty see me, respect my efforts and are proud to have me as a colleague.” 

Professor Daphne Watkins’ YBMen Project is being launched in Australia. The Freemasons Centre for Male Health & Wellbeing will use Indigenous leadership and co-design processes to adapt and contextualize the program to meet the needs of young Indigenous males across Australia. Originally developed for young Black college men in the U.S., YBMen  provides social and educational support and connectedness via social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. 

“For the past seven years, the YBMen Project has had success with Black men and boys in the United States, and we look forward to seeing what it can do for Aboriginal males in the Northern Territory,” said Watkins. “With such strong support, resources and partnerships in place, we are confident we will see improved mental health, more progressive definitions of manhood and increased social support among Aboriginal males in Australia now, and in the years to come."

Professor Daphne Watkins is a co-chair of a new task force, Advancing Public Safety at the University of Michigan. President Mark Schlissel and Provost Susan Collins appointed a 20-member task force that will examine what’s working and what needs to be improved with the university’s Division of Public Safety and Security. The task force is among several anti-racism initiatives that U-M officials announced last fall after the deaths of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police sparked national conversations around structural racism and policing.