Graduate Student Profiles

Educational PsychologyAshley is interested in (applied) experimental social psychology and quantitative methods. Currently, Ashley's research interests surround women's experiences of sexism, racism, and gendered racism in male-dominated workspaces (e.g., computer science and engineering). Ashley is also interested in understanding how certain attitudes and beliefs (e.g., social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism) contribute to White people's race-related attitudes and behaviors.

Educational PsychologyMy current research interests are stress, coping, and trauma in educational settings.

Educational PsychologyAmanda’s research interests include internalizing disorders and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices in community and school settings.

Educational PsychologyI am interested in prevention and intervention strategies in early childhood, particularly with culturally and linguistically minoritized, and economically marginalized preschool-aged children. Additionally, I am interested in examining the role of bilingual school psychologists in early childhood settings. Further, I am interested in the language development and social-emotional competencies of DLL preschoolers and the delivery of culturally responsive services, supports, and assessment/evaluation procedures.

Educational PsychologyHuajian Gao's current research interests focus on understanding social emotional development in childhood and adolescence across family systems. He is now working on a study to investigate how overprotective parents influence emerging adults’ emotional autonomy development and their feeling of loneliness and aloneness.

Educational Psychology
M.A. in Human Development, Culture, and Learning Sciences, expected 2024Miranda Goldstein is interested in examining how social context and multicultural education can impact academic motivation and ultimately contribute to educational equity. Specifically, she is interested in understanding how cultural values, beliefs, and practices can influence academic motivation and achievement among diverse populations of children and adolescents. Through her research, she hopes to contribute to developing effective strategies and interventions that promote educational equity and academic success for all students.

Educational Psychology
Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, expected 2025- Integrative Behavioral Health - Race Related Stress and Coping - Mental Health Outcomes for African Americans - Radical Healing Framework - Equitable Resource Distribution for Black Graduate Students

Educational Psychology
M.S. in Quantitative Methods, expected 2025Madeline is a First-year Ph.d. student interested in academic motivation.

Educational PsychologySofia's research interests are focused on Latinx families, how they cope with stress, and how to better their mental health outcomes. She is passionate about closing gaps in mental health care for marginalized communities and advocating for their rights through psychology. She is also interested in the family-school relationship and how to strengthen this partnership to better outcomes for students, specifically for low-income, marginalized families. Sofia currently works in the Pediatric Coping and Language Lab...

Educational PsychologyTaylor's current line of research focuses on how a student identity (ethnic/gender/first-generation) interacts with their academic experiences and learning environment. Her other research interest include graduate student burnout and well-being, sense of belonging, prejudice and discrimination

Educational PsychologySamuel is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology and is pursuing a master's specialization in Quantitative Methods. His primary research interests include college student mental health, group psychotherapy, program evaluation, and social anxiety. Before entering the field of psychology, Sam worked in finance and consulting. He enjoys weaving a quantitative approach into the study of mental health and currently works as the Graduate Assistant for Program Evaluation for the Counseling and Mental Health Center and...

Educational Psychology
Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, expected 2026Her research interests involve effective learning strategies and teaching methods, desirable difficulty, motivation, and metacognition in higher education and STEM.

Educational PsychologyJulie Sievers joined the Human Development, Culture, and Learning Sciences (HDCLS) program in Educational Psychology in Fall 2021. Previously, she graduated with a B.A. in mathematics from Valparaiso University and then earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from UT-Austin. After teaching for several years, she moved into college faculty development, leading programs that brought educational research to instructors and curricula. She directed the Center for Teaching Excellence at St. Edward’s University (Austin, TX) and then...

Educational PsychologyI worked primarily on investigating the relationship between teachers stress and principal leadership.

Educational PsychologyLexie is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology, with a research interest in LGBTQ populations and LGBTQ health. She is advised by Dr. Mike Parent, and is a member of the Gender, Sexuality, and Behavioral Health Lab. Broadly, Lexie is interested in improving the accessibility and effectiveness of healthcare services for the LGBTQ community.

Educational PsychologyNate is primarily interested in health and educational disparities related to gender and sexual orientation.

Educational Psychology
Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, expected 2025She is interested in studying field-specific ability belief (FABs), perceived mindset (e.g., perceptions of peers, professors, and parents' beliefs), cultural competence, gender differences (e.g., women in STEM), and motivation in context.

Educational PsychologyMy current interest of research focus on social comparisons among middle/high school adolescents and their parents. My research aims to understand if there’s any association between parents’ use of critical comparison and students’ psychological and behavioral outcomes. I did interviews with middle and high school students in Chengdu, China on their parents’ use of critical comparisons and consequential results. I’m now collecting and analyzing survey data on this project. Another part of my research is...