Laura Brashears

Laura Brashears is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of South Carolina, with graduate faculty status. Her research bridges social psychology, sociology of education, and race/ethnicity studies, examining identity formation, educational outcomes, and social networks.

Current projects investigate identity prominence in academic achievement, social network encoding in group experiences, and identity revelation patterns related to mental health. She has received funding including a College of Arts & Sciences Research Creativity Grant.

Dr. Brashears teaches courses in Racial and Ethnic Relations, Sociology of Education, and Sociology of Mental Health. Recognized with teaching awards including the William K. Bunis Graduate Student Teaching Award.

Her publications explore identity prominence effects on academic outcomes, cognitive heuristics in social networks, and compression strategies in social memory. Recent work examines veteran-student identity integration in higher education.