The Youth Research Council (YRC) is a research collaborative and community-based experiential learning innovation. Launched in the Fall 2021, the Youth Research Council is a partnership of the Sociology and Anthropology Department’s Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) and the Mason’s Early Identification Program (EIP).
Mason’s YRC embraces a scaffolded model of learning with the goal to integrate students at various stages of the social science pipeline. High school students serve as YRC Fellows, while undergraduate and graduate students serve as research mentors and research assistants.
Thanks to the YRC’s partnership with the Early Identification Program, which has existing collaborative relationships with area schools, the YRC co-directors conducted outreach and student recruitment across all high schools in Prince William, Fairfax and Loudon County as well as Alexandria City, Fall Church City, Manassas City, and Manassas Park. All area students enrolled in 9th through 12th grades were eligible to apply; 36 students from 20 different high schools are 2021-2022 YRC Founding Fellows.
For more on the YRC, check out this video from our first year.
For more information contact:
To apply for the next group of YRC fellows, please visit the Youth Research Council Application page.