Publications

Nwede Chiamaka Stellamaris is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science degree in Public Affairs and Community Development at Rutgers-Camden.   I recently had a conversation with a Pre-K student in Camden, New Jersey who I noticed often seems distracted or tired, and at times, would not eat her lunch. Through my chat with […]

Chiamaka Nwede is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science degree in Public Affairs and Community Development at Rutgers-Camden.   In today’s technology-driven world, the role of cell phones in education has become a subject of heated debate. While mobile devices offer numerous benefits, their unrestricted classroom use has been linked to academic decline, […]

Chiamaka Nwede is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science degree in Public Affairs and Community Development at Rutgers-Camden.   The consistent teacher shortage in many states, including New Jersey, has been exacerbated by many factors, including low salary payment, high stress levels, and challenging working conditions. As of today, New Jersey is still […]

Chiamaka Nwede is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science degree in Public Affairs and Community Development at Rutgers-Camden. I met a girl sitting inside her high school’s underfunded laboratory, staring at a robotic kit that had seen better days. She had always been fascinated by how machines worked, often tinkering with household gadgets […]

Taylor Hughes is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Public Policy degree at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. She serves as a research assistant with the New Jersey State Policy Lab.   The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the United States’ most extensive integrated healthcare system, providing care at […]

November 20th, Transgender Day of Remembrance, commemorates the transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people who have lost their lives due to anti-transgender hate crimes. It is a day to affirm the human rights of transgender persons. The transgender community can face substantial barriers, such as violent hate crimes, family neglect, lack of school belonging, suicide […]

Many members of my family have served in the U.S. military, and growing up, I knew it was a place where I could make a difference. I enlisted in the New Jersey Air National Guard (a component of the U.S. Air Force) as a Health Services Management Technician in 2018. In April 2020, the National […]

Introduction New Jersey is home to one of the largest populations of students with disabilities (SWDs) in the United States. Almost one-fifth of our public school students aged 3 to 21 (18%) are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). School closures and virtual classrooms necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic posed unique challenges […]

Insurance rates among the Hispanic population in the United States, particularly in New Jersey, have historically been lower than those of other racial and ethnic groups.1 Several factors contribute to this disparity, including immigration status, language barriers, systemic challenges within the healthcare system, and a lack of employer-sponsored healthcare at many jobs accessible to these […]

Abortion, the medical termination of a pregnancy, is one of the most divisive moral, political, and cultural issues impacting the United States today. In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark cases of Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), ruling that the United States Constitution “does not […]

Redlining, Disinvestment, and Health Outcomes Within both the state of New Jersey as well as the broader U.S., there has existed a historical practice of redlining, which is defined as the practice of systematically denying various services (e.g., credit access) to residents often based on race and primarily within urban communities, (Egede, 2023). Not only […]

As a result of longstanding structural inequities, African American women endure greater trauma, socioeconomic disparities, and stress, and have less access to healthcare and social support during the perinatal period, which occurs from the beginning of pregnancy to a year after giving birth. With these factors, which can lead to poorer mental and physical health […]