Her main research and teaching agendas focus on enduring social and cultural inequalities in schools and education. Her expertise ranges from issues of youth identity and race, class, and gender, urban poverty, social and cultural inequality, the sociology of education and mixed research methods. Specifically, she examines academic and mobility differences shaped by the effects of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in the United States and global society.
Prior to her appointment as Dean at Berkeley, Professor Carter was the Jacks Family Professor of Education and Professor of Sociology (by courtesy) at Stanford University. She was also the Faculty Director of John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, and the Director of the Research Institute for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.
Professor Carter’s books include the award-winning Keepin’ It Real: School Success beyond Black and White (Oxford University Press, 2005). Keepin’ It Real was recognized as the 2006 co-winner of the Oliver Cromwell Cox Book Award given by the American Sociological Association (ASA) for its contribution to the eradication of racism; and a 2005 finalist for the C. Wright Mills Book Award, given by the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She is also the author of Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. & South African Schools (Oxford University Press, 2012); and Closing the Opportunity Gap: What America Must Do to Give Every Child an Even Chance (Oxford University Press, 2013), co-edited with Dr. Kevin Welner.
Professor Carter is an elected member of the National Academy of Education; the Sociological Research Association; and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the William T. Grant Foundation; and SOAR (Support, Opportunities, and Rapport) for Youth.
She received a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics and economics from Brown University; earned a Master of Art in Sociology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University; and a Master of Philosophy and Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University.