Welcome to the Achievement Research Lab of the University of Michigan. ARL is a large research unit associated with the Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD). Broadly we are interested in the psychological and social factors that influence individuals’ achievement-related choices and activity involvement. More specifically, we study questions such as: Why are there gender and ethnic group differences in career choice (particularly in the domains of math, science, information technology, music and sports) and leisure activities (particularly in reading, sports, extracurricular activities, and instrumental music). We are also interested in the impact of participation in such leisure activities on subsequent development. Even more broadly we are interested the psychological and contextual influences on social development in the second and third decades of life. Finally, we are interested in the role of transitions in life course development. Our work involves both qualitative and quantitative methods used with longitudinal research designs. Most of our work has focused on the school and the family as primary developmental contexts. We are beginning more work on the neighborhood, the peer group, and activity settings as developmental contexts.