2025 Education Research Symposium

Title: Listening to Historically Underrepresented Graduate Students: Examining How the Structure of a Higher Education Support Program Impacts Experiences, Outcomes, and Identity

Abstract: Limited research has examined how institutional support programs influence the identity development of underrepresented and first-generation graduate students. Using a qualitative approach, this study explores how 11 students participating in the Vector Program, a post-baccalaureate mathematics initiative, construct and navigate their identities, including race, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and academic identities like math identity. Our analysis revealed that while students entered the program with a range of expectations for support ranging from emotional to instrumental these expectations were not always met. The students’ narratives evolved, with their identities shifting from being seen as a list of characteristics to central challenges they confronted within academic spaces. We found that, despite the program’s efforts to provide emotional and academic support, it often mirrored broader structural inequalities, such as class-based barriers and institutional norms that prioritized conformity over authentic identity affirmation. Students’ reflections highlighted both the strengths and limitations of the program’s support structure, offering insight into how it either facilitated or hindered their sense of belonging and academic trajectory. Through a close examination of student voices, this study underscores the importance of creating support systems that are both holistic and identity-affirming in graduate education, challenging traditional success metrics and prioritizing the complexity of identity formation in academic spaces.

Title: The Paradox of Privilege for First-Generation Latinx Students at Elite Universities

Abstract: Latinx students make up nearly 20% of college enrollment across the United States, with approximately 44% identifying as first generation college students. These students are more likely to attend public universities than private institutions, and even fewer enroll in elite private universities. This thesis examines the paradoxical experiences of first-generation Latinx students at elite universities, where access to opportunities exists alongside systemic barriers. The “paradox of privilege” underscores the tension between the benefits of privilege and the challenges, alienation, or unique burdens it imposes. This paradox illustrates how newly acquired privilege can simultaneously empower and burden individuals, leading to a complex and often challenging experience of upward mobility. Through 19 in-depth interviews, the research reveals how students’ identity shifts since attending an elite institution. Still, they leverage resilience strategies, such as utilizing familial capital and accessing social agents, to successfully navigate higher education. Beyond serving as a reason why resources should be distributed amongst Latinx students early in their education, this research aims to illuminate the troubles first-generation Latinx college students face while enrolled in higher education. While gaining admission to college represents a significant achievement, navigating college constitutes a separate and more formidable endeavor.

Title: Why do some students choose to not consider or decline merit-based scholarships at elite universities?

Abstract: When applying for undergraduate admissions, students are given the chance to be considered for scholarships. It is logically in one’s best interest to opt in for an opportunity at free money; however, not everyone says yes. While some student might not be eligible for need-based scholarships, most merit scholarships are open to everyone. Elite universities receive applications from a surplus of qualifying students every year. Assuming all applicants consider themselves meritorious, then I question: if you deserve the merit aid, why do you still give it up? I study the perception of students at elite universities who did not consider merit scholarships in their application process, as well as the reasons behind students who declined merit scholarships. Through in-depth interviews with undergraduate students from various elite colleges, I found that while some students experience guilt in accepting money they do not need, most participants admit that they simply did not think of scholarships during the application. I also found that over half of the participants were discouraged from applying for scholarships as they believed that would make them less competitive in admissions.

Title: Liminality in Compliance: Organizational Responses To Anti-DEI Policy in Higher Education

Abstract: Since the beginning of 2023, around 59 bills have been introduced to halt diversity efforts at higher education institutions. 14 have become law in different states across the United States. The passing of these laws has forced organizations and initiatives at higher education institutions to change or be dissolved. Prior research has examined how organizations have adopted DEI logics among their organizations, through policy changes such as the Civil Rights Act and affirmative action. However, there remains an open question about what happens to organizations and their members when it reverts to a pre-DEI adoption. In addition, because of the broadness of anti-DEI legislation, organizations, and bureaucratic agents had different interpretations and responses to these bills. My dissertation explores the liminality of these organizational changes and their impacts as institutions try to comply. More specifically, I ask how critical school agents shape and influence the implementation of “anti-DEI” initiatives in order for higher education institutions to be compliant. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations with staff, faculty, and students in the state of Utah where anti-DEI legislation was passed, this study traces the organizational changes that universities made to comply with the anti-DEI legislation. Additionally, this dissertation documents the strategies that staff and advocates of the diversity initiatives employ to ensure the survival of student services. The findings of this research project should be of interest not just to people who care about education but also to anyone who cares about educational policy and educational organizations in these times of racist backlash.

Title: The Company We Are Assigned: An Intersectional Approach to Intergroup Contact in Assigned College Roommates

Abstract: In January 2025, President Trump’s administration released a series of announcements calling for a broad, urgent end to diversity programming in schools. Colleges have removed DEI statements from their websites and cut back programming. In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that universities can no longer use race-conscious affirmative action in admissions (SFFA v. UNC; SFFA v. Harvard). Diversity efforts on college campuses are in crisis. This political moment pushes us to reconsider what students gain from a diverse education. Most social life on campus is self-directed, while students might experience the diversity of the student body at their university broadly, research shows students often opt towards homophily in friendships, romantic relationships, and peer connections. However, in rare circumstances, the university intervenes. One of the most direct interventions by elite institutions into formal, programmatic connections between diverse individuals is assigning college roommates. College roommates serve as an intimate, prolonged peer relationship, impacting students in almost all realms of social life. Even though encountering diverse peers is a central part of the enriched learning environment at elite institutions and significantly impacts students’ long-term outcomes, it is unclear how this imposed relationship amongst diverse peers impacts students. My research is motivated by this puzzle: How are students impacted by their roommates? How are student biases, preferences, and behaviors affected by living with an assigned roommate, and how do these beliefs change throughout their first year of college? What is the relationship between students’ stated and revealed biases, evolving narratives, and behaviors?  To answer these questions, I will deploy a multi-method approach, using 1) a time-series conjoint experiment, 2) stated preferences and descriptive survey data, and 3) three waves of in-depth student interviews.

Title: Contextual moderators for the impact of delayed lingua-franca proficiency development on academic achievement among linguistically minoritized students

Abstract: Formal education often entails teaching via a dominant lingua franca, whether for logistical, ideological, or other reasons. However, such an approach may hamper the achievement of students whose home language differs from the lingua franca (“linguistically minoritized” or “LM” students), especially if the LM student did not start with a strong foundation in the lingua franca at baseline. Despite efforts at developing LM students’ proficiency in the lingua franca where needed, LM students who begin school with lower lingua-franca proficiency may lag behind academically in the longer term. However, lingua-franca proficiency is not the only factor that plausibly affects LM students’ academic achievement, since we know that the family, community, and school factors may also play a role.

The study presented here therefore intends to investigate how much contextual factors may moderate the association between lingua-franca proficiency and educational achievement among LM students. I apply longitudinal hierarchical regression to the ECLS-K:2011 dataset, which consists of nationally representative longitudinal data (K-5) tracking members of the kindergarten class of 2010-11 within the US. In the presentation, I give an overview of my project and its motivation, followed by descriptions of my data and methods, a display and interpretation of preliminary findings, and possible directions for further research within the same project.

Title: The Texas Teacher Incentive Allotment and Student Achievement: Promise, Challenges, and Outcomes

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of Texas’s educator pay-for-performance program—the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA)—on academic outcomes for students at campuses participating in the program. Using campus-level panel data and controlling for campus and time fixed effects, I estimate the relationship between campus participation status and school level proficiency on STAAR Math and Reading assessments. Results indicate that participation in the program is associated with modest but statistically significant gains in proficiency in both math and reading. These effects are driven by increases in proficiency within economically disadvantaged student populations and Hispanic students, suggesting the program may be advancing educational equity. The findings highlight the potential of strategic teacher incentives to improve student outcomes, emphasizing the importance of aligning teacher compensation with productivity while considering the level of financial investment relative to measurable achievement.

Title: Civics Education in the United States: A Legacy of Failure and Hope for the Future

Abstract: Civics education is essential for developing an informed and politically engaged electorate. Recent declines in civics proficiency across the United States have prompted state legislatures to pass reforms to bolster the subject in schools. This study is an evaluation of recent civics education reform efforts in the United States between 2017-2020. Comparisons are made between trends in national NAEP civics exam data and civics test score trends in Florida and Virginia, which both passed civics reforms during this period, but maintained civic republican and liberal standards in their curricula. Louisiana is used as a control case, as the state has not passed any reforms regarding civics. The data suggests no correlation between civics reform efforts and civics test scores for either Florida or Virginia. Furthermore, an analysis using previous research on the Student Voices program, founded by the Annenberg School of Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, is examined as a potential alternative to modern civics teaching, using data from their program sites in Philadelphia and Seattle. This paper advocates for a new form of civics education that addresses the lived experience of students to increase political engagement and to supplement or replace the current methods of teaching civics.

Title: The Double Bind of Black Adolescents in Chicago Public Schools 1970s – 1990s

Abstract: My research examines how Black youth in Chicago Public Schools from 1970 to 1990 responded to increasingly punitive disciplinary practices, and how their resistance intersected with broader community and teacher responses to systemic educational inequality. Comparing the policies of the 70s-90s to the responses of Black youth with the 2010s school closings, I trace the roots of neoliberal education reform and school closures in the early 21st century to this earlier period of contested discipline and control by using archival materials such as school board records, newspapers, student-run newspapers and articles, student-poetry, and cps files.

Title: The Autonomy Rights of Minors in Public Schools (with regard to age-appropriate materials, parental rights, mandated pronoun disclosure, and “instruction” or “promotion” of issues related to sex or gender-identity)

Abstract: Regarding debates around laws like Iowa’s SF 496 re age-appropriate materials in school, parental rights, mandated pronoun disclosure, and “instruction” or “promotion” of issues related to sex or gender-identity in k-6: could autonomy rights of minors with regard to their learning be theorized within the liberal tradition in such a way as to at least partially accommodate the rival positions of conservatives and progressives, as well as the sometimes opposed positions of parental rights advocates and upholders of a state/public interest in a more expansive pedagogy?

Title: Whitewashed Cosmopolitanism: Making of Cosmopolitan Identity in International Schools in Asia

Abstract: International schools in Asia offer cosmopolitan education exclusive to affluent local populations. While international schools promote cultural diversity and shared values such as equity, human rights, and environmental issues, racialized sentiments persist among international school graduates. This study showcases how Asians from privileged backgrounds become active agents in reproducing the racialized cultural hierarchy by subscribing to the notion of white supremacy. Drawing evidence from the analysis of 34 in-depth interviews with participants who have attended international schools, it examines the processes of international schools to reproduce and reinforce white hegemonic notions. The participants of 10 different nationalities attended 36 international schools across East and Southeast Asia during their K-12 years. The findings highlight 1) embedded Westernized ideology in the cosmopolitan teachings of international schools in Asia and 2) the shared white hegemonic notion and the racialized cultural hierarchy among international school graduates. Hence, this discusses international schools as passive agents and effective mediators of reflecting and reinforcing existing values in societies.

Title: Children’s YouTube usage affects their development of racial attitudes

Abstract: To what extent might YouTube influence children’s beliefs about racial outgroups? Though it is well established that children can learn about group dynamics within their racial world from patterns in their daily environments, the majority of research in this domain has focused on in-person environmental dynamics. The current study examines whether YouTube exposes children to negative outgroup behaviors, potentially affecting their beliefs. In an online questionnaire, dyads of parents and 8-13 year-old children (N = 200 dyads) described children’s daily YouTube usage. We found that time spent on YouTube each week was not associated with increased perception of negative racial patterns on YouTube (B = 0.00, p = .397), nor was time spent on YouTube associated with an increase in prejudice against racial outgroups (B = 0.00, p = .376). However, male participants (t = -2.45, p = .029) and participants with higher parasociality scores (B = 0.81, SE = 0.08, p < .001) displayed greater prejudice. These findings suggest that prejudice is predicted by more than just online exposure to negative racial patterns; children’s identities and preferences may play a larger role.

Title: Liberation Deferred: How do Schools Impact Identity Creation in Students?

Abstract: This thesis explores how schools influence Black students’ political identity and social morality, focusing on the University of Chicago Woodlawn Charter School. Through 32 student interviews, classroom observations, and course material review, the study investigates the extent to which culturally responsive education supports identity development and civic engagement. While the school incorporates Black-centered curricula and symbolic imagery, these efforts are often undercut by limited access, under-resourcing, and uneven institutional support. Seniors exposed to courses like “Black Thought and Senior Thesis” demonstrate deeper political awareness, while younger students show interest but lack the language and frameworks to critically engage. The findings reveal a pattern of delayed exposure to liberation-centered education, leading to fragmented identity development. To close this gap, the thesis recommends integrating culturally relevant pedagogy and critical theory across grade levels, supported by structural investment in staffing, curriculum design, and extracurricular access.

Title: Privileged, Disadvantaged, or Both?: Comparing the Experiences of First-Generation and Continuing-Generation Chinese International Students at Elite US Colleges

Abstract: Past studies have consistently demonstrated that first-generation college students in the US face structural disadvantages in navigating the college environment compared to their continuing-generation peers. However, international first-generation college students studying at US universities are rarely represented in the existing literature. This study aims to address this gap and diversify the scholarly discussion by examining the lived experiences of first-generation Chinese international students at elite US colleges in comparison to those of their Chinese international continuing-generation counterparts. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory and the concept of intersectionality, this research analyzes interview data from 10 first-generation and 10 continuing-generation Chinese international students at four elite US private research universities. The findings reveal that, unlike American domestic students, first-generation and continuing-generation Chinese international students generally share similar challenges and achievements in their college experiences due to the rise of the “capitalist class” during China’s Reform and Opening-Up and the limited transferability of home-based parental capital across national borders. As a result, both groups similarly draw on the transnational capital they gained through elite K-12 schools to navigate the elite college environment. Despite these shared overall experiences, first-generation Chinese international students uniquely report intellectual disconnection from their parents and face distinct challenges shaped by China’s regional inequality. Overall, these findings contribute to broadening the conversation on first-generation college students, expanding Bourdieu’s theory into a transnational setting, and highlighting elite K-12 schools’ role in facilitating transnational mobility and reproduction. This study encourages future researchers to explore how elite pre-college education influences global class structures and to reframe first-generation status as encompassing intersectional experiences shaped by the unique social contexts of different countries.

Title: Recovery of Early Literacy and Non-cognitive Skills Post-COVID-19: The Role of Teacher Insights in Shaping Educational Policy and Practices

Abstract: My research examines the recovery of early literacy and noncognitive skills in preschool to first-grade students, focusing on the disconnect between education policy and classroom practice.  I aim to explore how educators’ perspectives can inform policies to better address both academic and non-cognitive recovery. Using the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework, my research will focus on the role of social and emotional learning (SEL) in facilitating early literacy recovery and fostering holistic student well-being. My central research question is: What specific strategies have shown success in mitigating the academic and social-emotional impacts of Covid-19 on children’s learning? How can we best support teachers and school districts in implementing these strategies to recover from learning losses?

Title: “They Forgot About Us”: The Experiences of Dual Language Teachers in Southern California

Abstract: This study explores how administrative practices shape the experiences of dual language teachers at two elementary schools in California, Grove and Orchard. Drawing from 12 teacher interviews, the findings reveal school administration to be the most salient factor influencing teacher satisfaction, resource accessibility, and the faithful implementation of dual language programs. While both schools operate under the same district mandates, administrative behavior mediates the impact of those policies in distinct ways. Orchard’s administration demonstrated greater support for Spanish instruction and teacher collaboration while Grove’s administration exhibited a preference for English and offered limited institutional support. These differences affected teacher autonomy, resource allocation, and coworker collaboration. Additionally, the study reveals how district-level decisions and inadequacies in bilingual assessment tools perpetuate inequities and undermine the legitimacy of dual programs. The findings underscore the need for administrators and districts to engage meaningfully with dual language programs and teachers to create equitable and effective bilingual learning environments.

Title: Teaching Beyond the Screen: How Do Teachers Combat Online Misogyny Amongst Adolescent Boys?

Abstract: Concerns about the influence of misogynistic social media content on adolescent boys have become increasingly urgent in U.S. education, yet little research has examined how American high school teachers are responding to this growing epidemic. While studies from Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada have explored school-based responses to online misogyny and sexist behavior, this thesis addresses a significant gap in the U.S. context. Based on 17 in-depth interviews with high school teachers in the Chicagoland area, this study investigates how educators perceive the influence of popular male social media influencers (“Manfluencers”) amongst boys, what they observe in the classroom, and how they respond. While most teachers acknowledged that online misogyny was shaping boys’ behavior and beliefs, their responses varied dramatically, shaped less by any shared framework or school policy than by their own identities, pedagogical orientations, and institutional constraints. Teachers differed on whether they saw misogyny as widespread or isolated, on their ability to respond, or whether it was part of their teaching responsibility to act at all. This variation reveals a deeper absence of institutional coordination as well as a lack of consensus about the nature of the problem itself. While some teachers proposed mandatory gender curricula or other types of interventions, others avoided engagement altogether. Beyond a simple binary of punitive versus restorative responses, this thesis argues teachers are navigating a broader landscape of uncertainty—one marked by unclear expectations and uneven support. Addressing this gap demands not just better resources, but a whole-school reorientation grounded in care, community, and social justice.

Title: Teacher Beliefs About Child Early Math Skill Development
Abstract: Early math learning is an important foundation for later school learning (Geary et al., 2018: Duncan et al., 2007). However, pre-k teachers often feel more anxiety about teaching math (Beilock et al., 2010; Richland et al., 2020), feel more unsure about how to assess child math learning (Chen et al., 2014), and feel more comfortable teaching early literacy than early math (Brenneman et al., 2009). Considering this, our team has developed a formative assessment-instruction system that aims to increase children’s learning and teachers’ knowledge about child math learning. We found that the intervention – Getting on Track (GoT) – significantly increased children’s math outcomes (Raudenbush et al., 2020). For the current study, I am interested in how teachers learn about child math skill and how teacher beliefs about child skill shifts through GoT. My research question is: How do teachers describe child math skill and react to new information about child math skill that they learn from GoT?

Title: Stronger Anticipation, More Attention? The Predictive Role of Early Mu Desynchronization in Infants’ Later Attention to Actions

Abstract: Mu desynchronization, the decrease of mu rhythm in the sensorimotor cortex, as measured by electroencephalography (EEG), is believed to reflect increased activation of the sensorimotor system in the brain. This neural phenomenon has also been observed prior to the execution of an action, suggesting its involvement in action anticipation. Previous research has shown that infants who exhibited stronger mu desynchronization while observing the initial phase of a reaching-to-grasping action also demonstrated higher functional connectivity between their motor and visual regions by the end of the action. However, it remains unclear whether this predictive relationship extends beyond neural activity to behavior—specifically, whether mu desynchronization before an action can predict infants’ attention to the subsequent action. To investigate this, the current study examined whether infants’ mu desynchronization at the beginning of an action could predict their attention to the subsequent action. Results revealed that when infants exhibited stronger mu desynchronization before the onset of an action, they were more likely to look away while watching the subsequent action. Further analysis on looking duration revealed a weak but significant association between mu desynchronization and shorter looking duration. Overall, stronger mu desynchronization before the onset of an action was associated with reduced attention to later action, which might be explained by their decreased interest in the action after forming the prediction that an action would happen. These findings support the notion that mu desynchronization plays a role in action prediction and can predict infants’ later attention to actions.

Title: A Dream’s Potential: How aspirations shape children’s perceptions of future possibilities for themselves and others

Abstract: As children, we may have many dreams about the future – dreams which, as we age, can be dampened by environmental constraints. Yet, it is often those very dreams which have the power to lift us beyond such constraints, opening up possibilities we might not have otherwise considered. How much weight do children give to their desires rather than mere circumstances when judging what is possible? While past research has examined how environmental factors constrain children’s aspirations for the future, in three studies (N = 386) of 4-9 year old children (M = 7.19 years, SD = 1.65, range = 4.52 – 9.99) we investigate whether children believe that having aspirations – strong desires about one’s future life – makes such futures more possible.

Title: Parent-Child Fraction Talk in Home Numeracy Environment: The Role of Parental Perceptions in Predicting Parental Scaffolding Practices
Abstract: The home numeracy environment (HNE) is critical to understanding why some children start school more prepared to learn math than others. This paper studied the parent-child interactions of discussing the math concept of fractions, contextualized in a broader study design conducted in natural home environments. Specifically, this study bridged the gap in the HNE literature and examined the unique role of parental enjoyment and parental math self-efficacy (PMSE) on scaffolding behaviors. Results suggested that 1) enjoyment positively predicted positive emotional scaffolding, and gender interacted with this effect: the relationship was stronger for parents of girls than boys; 2) Child pretest performance negatively predicted explanatory cognitive scaffolding; 3) None of the PMSE items were correlated with any type of scaffolding behaviors. Implications and limitations of this study were also discussed.

Title: Quality Narrative Structure and Audience Persuasion 

Abstract: Narratives have long been used to transmit values and influence beliefs, yet the mechanisms through which they impact attitudes remain contested. This study investigates the role of narrative transportation—the immersive psychological experience of being absorbed into a story—in modulating empathy and promoting prosocial attitudes. Drawing on previous research in narrative persuasion, this thesis examines how narrativity (the structural coherence of a story), empathic response, and cognitive engagement interact to shape listeners’ reactions to moral messages. Participants listened to Catholic homilies varying in narrativity and subsequently completed questionnaires assessing transportation, empathy, persuasion, and prosociality. Although narrativity did not significantly predict transportation, persuasion, or empathy, narrative transportation did predict higher prosocial attitudes—but only insofar as it increased empathic response. Empathy emerged as the strongest predictor of prosociality, suggesting that emotional resonance, rather than narrative structure or logical persuasion, is the primary conduit for moral learning. These findings underscore the importance of fostering empathy through narrative experiences and challenge assumptions that well-structured stories alone can drive attitude change. Implications for education, media design, and moral development are discussed.