Esther J. Calzada, Ph.D.

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Esther Calzada is the associate dean for equity and inclusion, and the Norma and Clay Leben Professor in Child and Family Behavioral Health at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She also holds faculty affiliate positions in the Population Research Center and the Llilas Benson Latin American Studies and Collections at UT Austin, and in the Department of Population Health at the New York University School of Medicine.

Professor Calzada is a clinical child psychologist with expertise in parenting and early childhood development among ethnic minority, particularly Latino, families. Her program of research, focused on family and intergenerational processes and interventions, aims to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in academic achievement, behavior problems, and socio-emotional problems. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation, her work advances understanding of the unique risk factors (e.g., acculturative stress, experiences of discrimination) that undermine healthy child development among Latinos, as well as the protective and promoting factors (e.g., ethnic identity, family cohesion) that offset such risk. Her work is published widely in psychology and medical journals.

Professor Calzada serves as associate editor for the Journal of Latin@ Psychology and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.  She received her B.A. from Duke University and her Ph.D. from the University of Florida.