 She arrived at a time when there was a research program that "focused on African Americans in different school environments".The general consensus in the department at this time was that "all-black schools with black teachers could best provide the skills black students needed to survive in a society where most faced limited opportunities…segregated schools, by insulating black students from white abuse, were crucial to the formation of black identity and could become unifying community centers.Prosser's dissertation, "The Non-Academic Development of Negro Children in Mixed and Segregated Schools", became an important text for issues relating to education, reform, social development, racial identity, and other prominent topics related to segregation.