University Libraries Promotion and Tenure Recognition

The Ecology of Human Development is an essential resource for my research and a wellspring of inspiration that has informed my thinking since I discovered Bronfenbrenner’s work in graduate school. Bronfenbrenner’s approach to the study of human development embraces an ecological perspective that considers the context in which a person experiences life circumstances and how different contextual settings shape these experiences. By going beyond the individual to explain human development, Bronfenbrenner joins the micro and the macro into a unified explanation of human behavior by considering the interaction between the individual and their environment. While the person matters to our understanding of behavior and experiences, Bronfenbrenner's groundbreaking work and ensuing ecological systems theory reminds us that we cannot overlook the influence of context; context matters.