Virtual Reality: A New Frontier for Cultivating Racial Empathy in Early Childhood

Our current, highly charged racial tensions, underscore the urgent need to deepen our understanding of how to challenge racial biases and foster racial empathy. Early childhood is a critical time for cultivating racial empathy because children’s foundational social and emotional skills develop during these formative years, shaping their attitudes and behaviors towards others. Fostering racial empathy at this stage helps cultivate inclusive mindsets, reduce prejudice, and create a sense of belonging that can last a lifetime. Dr. Ibekwe-Okafor, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, will share insights about her research to measure, evaluate, and foster racial empathy in early childhood through the use of virtual reality.

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Meet Dr. Ibekwe-Okafor

Dr. Nneka Ibekwe-Okafor is an Assistant Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies, Education and Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research sits at the intersection of developmental science, early childhood education, and social policy. She investigates the social and environmental determinants of Black children’s early development by examining how poverty, racial discrimination, structural inequalities, and educational inequities influence access to quality early care and education and the academic, emotional, and social development of Black children from birth to age eight.

Her research has a particular focus on identifying protective factors across various ecological levels in efforts to promote the optimal developmental outcomes of Black children. Her goal is to inform social policies and practitioner-led interventions through the science of human development. Her work has been published in leading journals, including the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, Child Development, Child Development Perspectives, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Journal of Social Issues, and Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

As the Principal Investigator of a multi-year grant (funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation “Fostering Racial Empathy and Anti-Racist Practices in Early Care and Education”) she is working alongside state agencies to embed racial equity in state early care and education policies, and she is conducting research to develop an understanding of how to measure, evaluate, and foster racial empathy among young children. Dr. Ibekwe-Okafor received a Ph.D. in Human Development and Quantitative Methods from the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, an Ed.M. from Harvard University in Prevention Science Research, and a M.S.W. from Columbia University. In her undergraduate studies, she majored in African American Studies and Sociology and was a NCAA Division I volleyball player at the University of California, Davis.