Stanford Center on Adolescence

Center Overview

The Stanford Center on Adolescence is a scholarly research center that aims to promote the well-being of young people growing up in today's world. The Center pursues its mission through scholarly research that can provide information and guidance for parenting, educational practice, and vocational training. In addition, the Center offers support for doctoral students and visiting opportunities for post-doctoral fellows on a short-term basis.

The Center’s primary focus is the development of purpose during adolescence and beyond. Purpose is a forward-looking intention to accomplish goals that are meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self. A growing body of evidence indicates that purpose is associated with academic achievement, vocational success, energy, resilience, and psychological and physical health throughout the lifespan. Purpose can be found in family, work, faith, and other important life missions. More »

Activities

Research

The Center's research agenda examines learning in the adolescent and early adult years, purpose, identity, and character formation in an array of settings found in contemporary society.

In the Spotlight

• Congratulations to Senior Research Scholar Heather Malin on her forthcoming book Teaching for purpose: Preparing students for lives of meaning.

• William Damon is interviewed about the Center's Andrew W. Mellon Foundation study that will look at how (and whether) various contexts of higher education in the United States promote purpose in their students, particularly in liberal arts programs. Included is a related "School's In" podcast interview, "Finding Purpose."

• "Kick Back or Live With Purpose? Why Choose?" by Anne Colby and Jim Emerman (Encore.org), is Next Avenue's May 22, 2018, feature article.

• David Brooks, in his May 21, 2018 NYT column, "What Moral Heroes are Made Of," shares that Some do Care, by Anne Colby and William Damon, is "a book that has organized my thinking on this subject."

• CoA graduate students Emily Morton and Krystal Smith have been selected as 2018-19 Institute of Education Sciences (IES) fellowship recipients through SGSE's Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA) program. Congratulations!

• Your Teen Magazine - for Parents interviewed William Damon about "How Healthy Teens Develop a Sense of Purpose and Lead Purposeful Lives."

• Tenelle Porter, Center alumna, was recognized in April 2018, by the Behavioral Scientist for her research on intellectual humility, in "The Benefits of Admitting When You Don’t Know."

• Recent podcasts have been created by people interested in the Center's work on the development of purpose. Listen as William Damon talks with Lauren Faggella, Summit Public Schools, about "Developing Sense of Purpose in Middle School? It’s Not Too Early," with Jim Thompson, founder and CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance, about "Youth Sports Can Be A Vehicle To Help Kids Find Their Purpose," with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio, and with Brett McKay, The Art of Manliness, about "How to Find Your Life’s Purpose."

• TheBestSchools.org has recognized William Damon as one of “The 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists in the World.”

• Center Research Director, Heather Malin, and alumna Kendall Cotton Bronk (Claremont Graduate University), were interviewed in a January, 2018, Hechinger Report article Helping teens find their purpose.