Welcome! I highly encourage prospective grad students to consider fit with my lab and current research interests when applying. Information about WashU’s PhD program in the Department of Education can be found HERE.
For more information:
Thank you for your interest in my Student Emotions and Belonging Lab and the WashU Education PhD program. Please read carefully below about the specific topics of research being done in my lab and make sure that your application materials discuss your relevant research experiences as well as how your interests fit into what my lab does. A clear match of research interests and relevant experiences are two of the top factors considered when evaluating prospective students to join my lab.
I am looking for students who have interests in the interplay between identity, belonging, emotions, academic outcomes, and student well-being. I am especially interested in students who have interests in studying school belonging as well as interventions that promote belonging. Another big interest of mine is student emotion regulation, universal interventions in schools, and student mental health outcomes. Most of my research is with adolescents in high school or middle school, but I sometimes also work with older or younger students. I have a secondary interest in math/test anxiety as a specific emotional experience to study and target with intervention. I study all of these topics from a social psychological perspective.
So, in any application to work with me as an advisor, please be specific about how your interests align with studying (a) student belonging, (b) student emotion regulation and mental health, and/or (c) math/test anxiety. Also, be clear that you have interest and have read up on social-psychological interventions in education (Example 1, Example 2, General Theory). Finally, discuss how any prior research experiences may put you in a good position to be successful in doing research in graduate school. Of course, it is expected that all new students will be taking classes and developing new skills during grad school, but ideally, you will already have had some relevant research experiences in undergrad or after.