Research & CV

You can find my complete CV below.

At the broadest level, I am concerned with understanding the factors that shape young people’s equitable access to opportunity. My research revolves around practical applications of psychological theory to pinpoint the psychological, behavioral, and material processes that shape these opportunities, often with an emphasis on the experiences of people of color and people from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds.

Much of my work takes place in schools. At the same time that education can be one of the most powerful sources of opportunity, it is also a site of immense inequity. One of my lines of work seeks to make sustainable progress toward redressing educational disparities through creating classrooms grounded in strength-based approaches that recognize the valuable skills and knowledge that students gain from their otherwise marginalized backgrounds. Across partnership studies with K-12 schools, colleges, and universities, I’ve demonstrated that encouraging educators and other influential school figures to adopt these approaches reinforces everything from marginalized students’ sense of belonging in the classroom to their likelihood of earning a college degree.

Though promising, it is important to recognize that inequity does not stop at the classroom door. Understanding and addressing disparity requires researchers to grapple with the vast constellation of forces that shape people’s access to opportunity. As such, much of my recent work has focused on connecting many of the insights I’ve derived in schools to additional societal contexts and phenomena. For example, I’ve demonstrated that embedding strength-based approaches within workplace cultures remits common biases in the hiring and promotion of marginalized employees. More broadly, I’ve begun to uncover the beliefs and behaviors that lead privileged parents to hoard opportunities for their children at the expense of low-income families. I have also demonstrated how redistributive economic policies don’t just benefit people’s finances, but also facilitate the health, well-being, and sleep of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Put simply, I recognize that understanding opportunity and inequity is complicated. I believe that it is social psychologists’ job to not shy away from this complexity, but lean into it. For my part, I utilize diverse research methods—including longitudinal research-practice partnerships, carefully controlled experiments, person-centered analyses, and mixed-methods data collections—to triangulate the nuanced processes that support and impede people’s success. I approach this work with an eye toward developing new efforts to remit inequity and sharpening psychological theories that will expand our field’s knowledge and impact.

I am deeply grateful to pursue this work alongside many wonderful collaborators, including Drs. Régine Debrosse, Ivan Hernandez, and Josiah Rosario.