Training Programs

Creating early-career pathways to inequality research is a hallmark of the Stone Center. Our training programs provide early career researchers with access to expert faculty, mentorship, and networking, offering an environment conducive to growth as a researcher:

The Inequality Working Group

The Inequality Working Group is a biweekly meeting dedicated to fostering discussion and collaboration among graduate students and early career researchers. Moving away from a traditional seminar format, the working group facilitates a reading group driven by student presentations that emphasizes discussion and active participation. Under this model, participants are encouraged to deliver guidance to and invite assistance from graduate students pursuing challenging research projects, thereby developing meaningful collaborative relationships. This format enables faculty and students alike to engage with early-stage, ongoing research. 

The 2024 program is presented by Director Steven Durlauf, Associate Director Geoff Wodtke, and Postdoctoral Scholar Kristina Butaeva. Due to the close and enduring nature of the working relationships, participation in the Inequality Working Group is by admit only. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity

The Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality seeks to provide the next generation of scholars with the multidisciplinary underpinning necessary for effective research on inequality dynamics. It will feature leading scholars tackling inequality research from the lens of economics, sociology, and public policy, to foster cross-disciplinary approaches to inequality research and public policy evaluation regarding long-term inequality issues. It will also engage advanced Ph.D. students and early-career faculty through immersive lectures on state-of-the-art methods for inequality research, one-on-one and small-group meetings with senior researchers, and poster sessions where summer school students can receive input on their early-stage research from the research community. The summer schools are designed to yield long-term benefits in creating lasting intellectual links that can be pursued long after the conclusion of the meetings.

This is admit-only training for advanced Ph.D. students and early career faculty led by a roster of multidisciplinary leading scholars. Applications are collected each Spring.

Previous training sites have included:

• Beijing, China
• Chicago, Illinois
• Seoul, South Korea
• Tashkent, Uzbekistan