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Rukmalie Jayakody
Rukmalie Jayakody
Associate Teaching Professor of Social Work, World Campus Master of Social Work program
Summary Statement

Jayakody is the director of the online Master of Social Work program.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
  • Research
  • Family Development
  • Intervention and Prevention
  • Graduate Program
  • Social Work
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Education
  • B.A., 1989, Sociology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA
  • M.S.W., 1990, Social Work (Social Policy), University of Michigan
  • M.A., 1992, Sociology, University of Michigan
  • Ph.D., 1996, Sociology, University of Michigan
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Phone
Office Address
210 Health and Human Development Building
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
Fax
814-863-8342
Professional Experience

Present: Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, and Demography Research Associate, Population Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University

2004- Present: Research Affiliate, National Poverty Center, University of Michigan

2004-2005: Visiting Scholar, National Poverty Center, University of Michigan

Jan.-May, 2002 & 2003: Visiting Professor, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam

Jan.-May, 2002-03, 2005: Sociology Faculty for Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) and Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Interdisciplinary Social Science Research Methods Training Program, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Summer 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000: Co-Instructor, Advanced Categorical Data Analysis Workshop, Inter-University Consortium for Social and Political Research (ICPSR)

1989: Summer Program in Quantitative Methods, University of Michigan

Honors and Awards

1989-1994: Michigan Merit Fellowship, Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan

1989, 1990, 1993: Institute for Social Research Summer Programs Fellowship, University of Michigan

1992: Distinguished Research Partnership Award for "Kin Support to Single Mothers," Rackham Graduate School and the Office for the Vice-President of Research, University of Michigan

1994: Gerontological Society of American's Minority Predoctoral Leadership Development Program

2000-2005: W.T. Grant Foundation Faculty Scholars Award

Grants and Research Projects

Examining the nature of social changes and how social change impacts communities, families, and individuals; the impacts of television on attitudes and behavior; interventions aimed at improving population health;  mixed-methods research using mutually reinforcing qualitative and quantitative data; , research designs that pay careful attention to causation and selection; the impacts of poverty and social policies on families and children both in the U.S. and in developing countries.

Publications
  • Jayakody, R. & Heckert, J. (2010).  “Social change and its implications for Vietnam’s youth: Does media play a role? “  In Silbereisen, R. K. (Ed.), Social change and human development: Concepts and results, pp.227-244.  Sage: London.
  • Jayakody, R. (2008).  Social change, the meaning of aging, and television.  In Schaie, H.W. & Ables, R., (Eds). Social structures and aging, pp. 285-302.  New York: Springer.
  • Jayakody, R. , A. Thornton, & W.G. Axinn (Eds.) (2008). International Family Change: Ideational Perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Knodel, J., Loi, V. M., Jayakody, R., & Huy, V. T. (2005). Gender roles in the family: Change and stability in Vietnam. Asian Population Studies, 1(1), 69-92.
  • Jayakody, R., & Kalil, A. (2002). "Social fathering in low-income, African American families with preschoolers." Journal of Marriage and the Family , 64(2), 504-516.
  • Lichter, D., & Jayakody, R. (2002). "Welfare reform: How do we measure success?" Annual Review of Sociology , 28, 117-141.
  • Pollack, H.A., Danziger, S.H., Jayakody, R., & Seefeldt, K. (2002). "Drug testing welfare recipients: False negatives, false positives, unanticipated opportunities." Women's Health Issues , 12(1), 23-31.
  • Pollack, H.A., Danziger, S.H., Seedfeldt, K., & Jayakody, R. (2002). "Substance use among welfare recipients: Trends and policy responses." Social Service Review , 76(2), 256-274.
Additional Information

International population health, community randomized trials, the impacts of developent on culture change, social change and families, mixed methods research, the impacts of poverty on child development.