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National center for rural education research networks (ncrern), classroom-ncrern_1.jpg.

Project Status:   Current Focus Areas:  Postsecondary Access & Success ,  School Improvement & Redesign Location:  National (Year 1 - New York & Ohio) Timeline: Ongoing Co-Principal Investigators:  Thomas Kane ,  Douglas Staiger ,  Christopher Avery Project Director:   Jennifer Ash Press Release:  Harvard to launch center on rural education

The National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) builds the capacity of education agencies to undertake evidence-based continuous improvement in rural schools and districts. Through our work, we will increase the body of rigorous research and proven solutions in rural education.

The Rural Center’s network, launched in 2019 with funding from the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), includes 49 rural districts from across New York and Ohio as well as their state education agencies, educational service agencies, and regional data centers. In the second phase of our work, we will expand the network to include three additional states in which we will implement successful interventions found to be effective during phase one.

For more information about NCRERN and how to get involved, visit ncrern.org .

• Research Plan

Our Research Plan

1. Historical analyses: With our partner states New York and Ohio, we’ll explore trends in chronic absenteeism, postsecondary readiness, and postsecondary enrollment and differences in outcomes by schools and subgroups in order to understand rural schools’ unique challenges and their possible solutions. We will also conduct predictive analyses to identify students most likely to benefit from targeted interventions.

2. Causal analyses: We’ll evaluate the interventions chosen by our partners in each of the three topic areas. These studies use randomized and quasi-randomized designs to monitor implementation, evaluate immediate impacts, and refine the intervention.

3. Replication evaluation: We’ll measure the impact of a subset of interventions—proven effective in New York and Ohio—in three additional states.

4. Overall evaluation: We will evaluate the impact of participation in NCRERN by comparing the change in outcomes in the participating districts and the comparison districts on a wide range of student outcomes.

• Thomas Kane (HGSE), Principal Investigator
• Douglas Staiger  (Dartmouth), Co-Principal Investigator
• Christopher Avery (HKS), Co-Principal Investigator
• Jennifer Ash (National Center for Rural Education Research Networks, CEPR), Director 

Advisory Board

Our advisory board comprises esteemed experts in rural education to provide feedback about our work :

• Paolo DeMaria , Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ohio Department of Education
• Dr. Karen Eppley, Editor, Journal of Research in Rural Education, Penn State
• Robert Mahaffey , Executive Director, Rural School and Community Trust
• Dr. Allen Pratt, Executive Director, National Rural Education Association
• Dr. Joan Wade, Executive Director, Association of Educational Service Agencies

Regional Advisors

NCRERN will also seek regional expertise from the following advisors:

• Mike Fuller, Director, The Center for Innovation and Data Services at Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center
• Dr. John Sipple, Associate Professor, Department of Development Sociology, Cornell University
• Heather Boughton, Director of Research Evaluation & Advanced Analytics, Ohio Department of Education
• Anita Murphy,  District Superintendent, Capital Region BOCES

The College Board Cornell University Dartmouth College Iowa Department of Education Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center New York Department of Education Ohio Department of Education

NCRERN research reported on this website was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305C1900004. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

• Focus Areas

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• National Center for Research in Policy and Practice

Rural Students' Access to and Success in Higher Education: A Case Study

Journal title, series/report no., journal issn, volume title, description, collections.

Rural Schools and the Digital Divide

Technology in the learning experience.

• Erik Kormos Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio
• Kendra Wisdom Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio

In this era of rapid technological innovation, teachers in rural public schools employ a variety of educational technology tools to facilitate student learning. However, little information is known about these teachers’ usage frequencies and perceptions of effectiveness of technology in the learning process. Furthermore, limited research exists related to the barriers rural teachers face in their adoption and use of technology. Utilizing a quantitative approach, this study investigated these perceptions among rural teachers. Findings revealed rural educators have differing opinions on usage and effectiveness of various web-based technologies and software. Teachers revealed personal trial and error as the most common way of new technology knowledge and skill acquisition. Participants reported budgetary issues as the largest barrier to technology implementation, followed by student internet access at home. Suggestions are provided so administrators and teachers can adopt and integrate appropriate educational technology tools to maximize student learning.

Author Biographies

Erik kormos, ashland university, ashland, ohio.

Erik Kormos, PhD,  is Assistant Professor of Educational and Assistive Technologies at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.  He holds a PhD in Communications Media and Instructional Technology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His main area of interest is the study of frequency of use and teacher perceptions of educational technology at the domestic and international level. This area of research stems from his time as a Social Studies teacher in American and international K-12 schools.

Kendra Wisdom, Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio

Kendra Wisdom, EdD. is an adjunct instructor and Director of Graduate Advising in the College of Education at Ashland University. Her EdD is in Leadership Studies from Ashland University. Her research interests include transactional distance, communication design of synchronous online classes, and unique characteristics of adult learners. Kendra is a former 10th grade history teacher and newspaper reporter.

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Science Education in Rural Settings: Exploring the ‘State of Play’ Internationally

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The majority of literature in rural education tends to focus around identifying the factors contributing to the significant variations that exist in relation to student achievement between rural and urban schools. In reviewing this research from an international perspective, an interesting inconsistency emerges. At one extreme, some studies support the notion of a ‘deficit model’ of rural schooling, whereas conflicting evidence attributes a high degree of success to these schools in relation to student achievement. This chapter attempts to explore and unravel these discrepancies by considering the available research in relation to the definitions used to define ‘rurality’, the ways in which achievement is measured so that comparisons are possible, and the potential limitations of these prior studies. By ‘stepping back’ from the literature and contemplating the research findings more holistically, it is possible to identify major themes that provide a solid basis upon which to build a framework for future research in the area.

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Panizzon, D. (2012). Science Education in Rural Settings: Exploring the ‘State of Play’ Internationally. In: Fraser, B., Tobin, K., McRobbie, C. (eds) Second International Handbook of Science Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7_36

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MA Graduate Silvia Ortiz is a passionate advocate for rural, bilingual learners

As a proud bilingual teacher in her school, Silvia Ortiz exemplifies excellence in teaching, leadership and advocacy for bilingual learners at her school and in her small rural district. Ortiz is a passionate advocate for her mostly Latinx bilingual students as an English Language Development Teacher at Hudson Elementary School in Weld RE-3 School District. 

As a member of the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education’s Northeast Teacher Cohort, Otriz was able to earn her Master’s Equity Bilingualism and Biliteracy from the CU Boulder School of Education by attending courses close to home in Brighton and alongside 20 peer educators across three districts in the rural northeast region of Colorado.

Respected by her colleagues and revered in her community, Ortiz is also a strong bilingual writer and thinker. She completed her Teacher Inquiry Project, the culminating project and report for her master’s program, bilingually written in Spanish and English where she explored bilingual identities of her young Latinx students through linguistically and culturally responsive children’s literature. 

For her work as an exemplary educator and graduate student, Ortiz has been selected the 2024 Outstanding Graduate of the Master’s in Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy Program by the faculty in the BUENO Center. However, she has been a member of BUENO Center community since she participated first in the BUENO Career Ladder program in 2005, a partnership between CU Boulder and Aims Community College, on her pathway to becoming a teacher. Engaging in the master’s program helped bring Ortiz’s career, education, and connections with CU Boulder full circle.

Please tell us a bit about yourself

My journey to CU Boulder is a unique one. I reside in the Brighton area and teach in a small town in Northeastern Colorado. During my undergraduate program, I had the privilege of participating in the BUENO program through the Career Ladder Program. This experience not only deepened my passion for educational equity but also paved the way for my decision to pursue my master’s degree through the BUENO program at CU Boulder. The opportunity to return to BUENO now as a graduate student was a clear sign that this was the right path for me."

What is one of the most significant lessons from your time at CU Boulder that you’ll carry with you into the next chapter ?

[icon shape="fa-quote-left" size="fa-3x" pull="left" color="gray" /I have always considered myself a lifelong learner, and my time at CU Boulder has satiated my desire to explore new learning and revive my passion for equity for bilingual learners. The most profound and significant lesson I take away from my time at CU Boulder is this: all of our students come to us with various gifts and talents. It is up to us, educators, to explore such gifts and talents and leverage them to inspire and nurture independent learners and thinkers. By disrupting injustices created by systemic oppression we give our students the opportunities to thrive."

What does graduating from CU Boulder represent for you and/or your community?

Graduating from CU Boulder as a BUENO Center master’s student is a momentous achievement. CU Boulder has always been at the forefront of educational equity and advocacy for bilingual students and communities. As a Latina, this accomplishment holds a special place in my heart. It is a testament to my dedication and the support I have received from my community. This honor will undoubtedly enrich my work with my brilliant bilingual students."

What is your best piece of advice for incoming students?

I believe that one’s most remarkable ability is the ability to use metacognition. The ability to evaluate, monitor, and apply new teachings to our understanding is essential. A student with the caliber of being a critical thinker and having metacognitive awareness will find success in their endeavors."

What are your next steps after graduation?

As a lifelong learner, I have enjoyed my time as a student. Now is the time to apply all of what I've learned. My graduate program was robust and rich, with mastery in the field of educational equity. Now is my time to discern how best to apply my newfound knowledge in my specific role. Furthermore, I would like to inspire other educators through my example and leadership."

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USDA, Rutgers Announce Distance Learning Grant for Food, Agricultural Education

New Brunswick, NJ – On Friday, April 26, USDA Rural Development State Director Jane Asselta joined leadership from the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural experiment Station (NJAES) to announce a $232,378 Distance Learning grant at the university’s Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health (IFNH) in New Brunswick.

Asselta was joined by NJAES Executive Director Laura Lawson to announce the project details, which provide distance learning services and equipment to support agricultural and food business viability and sustainability for the university. More specifically, the grant funds instructors from NJAES and its Rutgers Cooperative Extension in Cumberland and Burlington counties -- including faculty in New Brunswick -- who will teach virtual courses on plant diseases, soil health, crops, health and nutrition, food safety, risk management, regulatory compliance, value-added products, beginning farmer, business development, and more.

“Serving rural New Jersey and supporting Rutgers University are two things near and dear my heart” said Asselta, a Rutgers University Douglass College graduate. “The Biden Administration is working to increase farm income, reduce costs for farmers, and provide access to high-speed internet to improve efficiencies so farming in New Jersey continues to be a way of life. Providing funding to help close the technological gap between rural areas and agricultural education opportunities is critical to long-term sustainability of New Jersey’s farmers.” 

The project was funded under the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Distance Learning and Telemedicine Loan and Grant Program (DLT) , and will be used to equip two hub sites and two end-user sites with state-of-the-art distance learning equipment to provide critical education and training to agricultural and food businesses in the rural southern part of New Jersey:

• Rutgers Food Innovation Center
• Rutgers Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health
• Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center
• Phillip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension.

In total, the project estimates benefitting over 3,700 agricultural operations and food companies, as well as 5,000 residents. Lawson said the grant postures the NJAES and university to make significant agricultural advancements in all 21 counties throughout the state.

Following the announcement, the new equipment and capabilities were showcased during a virtual call with Professor and Center Director Peter Oudemans of the Phillip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension.

Congressman Frank Pallone of the state’s 6 th District, which oversees much of Middlesex County, said “For decades, the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station has served as a nationwide leader in advancing agriculture research and education programs. I’m proud that Rutgers University is receiving this federal grant, which will help NJAES better serve the people of New Jersey and connect the urban, suburban, and rural communities that they live in.”

Background: This $232,378 USDA Rural Development investment provides essential equipment and supports instructors from NJAES and its Rutgers Cooperative Extension in Cumberland and Burlington counties, including faculty in New Brunswick, who will teach courses on plant diseases, soil health, crops, health and nutrition, food safety, risk management, regulatory compliance, value-added products, beginning farmer, business development, and more that contribute to agricultural and food business viability and sustainability, benefitting over 3,700 agricultural operations and food companies and 5,000 residents.

NJAES is an integral component of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The experiment station provides a diverse range of research, extension, and education programs that serve the people of New Jersey and the urban, suburban, and rural communities in which they live. Through its Cooperative Extension offices in all 21 New Jersey counties , dedicated 4-H agents, Extension specialists, Family & Community Health Sciences educators, and Agriculture and Natural Resources agents work to serve New Jersey residents in every area of the state. In addition, off-campus field stations and farms focus on research ranging from support for fisheries, agriculture and allied businesses to support for youth and teens, while several centers and institutes on the George H. Cook Campus at Rutgers–New Brunswick engage in world-class research to provide solutions for a range of issues faced by New Jersey residents.

USDA Rural Utilities Services Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program helps rural communities use advanced telecommunications technology to connect to each other – and the world – overcoming the effects of remoteness and low population density. These grants help rural residents tap into the enormous potential of the internet to improve education and health care; two of the most crucial keys to successful rural economic and community development.

USDA Rural Development funds projects in New Jersey under the leadership of its state office staff located in Mt. Laurel and is supported by offices located in Hackettstown, Columbus, and Vineland. For more information on programs, visit our  state website  or follow us on  social media .

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender

The West has a veterinarian shortage. Can this new college bring animal health care to rural Utah?

Utah state university’s new college of veterinary medicine will officially launch in 2025 in the hopes of more animal health care providers for the west..

[Photo provided by Utah State University] Dirk Vanderwall, center, demonstrates the use of a stethoscope on a horse as students watch in an undated photo. Vanderwall will begin as the inaugural dean of the Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine on July 1, 2024.

Logan • Jenna Gowans didn’t always dream of being a veterinarian, but caring for animals has almost always been in her family.

Gowans’ father and sister run a veterinary clinic in Tooele where she grew up. While attending Utah State University for her undergraduate degree, she said, “The running joke in my family was if I was going to get an animal science degree, then I might as well go to vet school.”

Gowans is now in her second year of veterinary school at Utah State, but instead of dedicating more time to her studies in Logan, she’ll soon have to move to Pullman, Washington, to finish her advanced degree.

That’s because Utah State doesn’t yet have a doctorate of veterinary medicine college — nor does any university in Utah. Instead, Utah State is a partner in a regional program that allows students to spend two years in Logan before finishing their degree at Washington State University and joining the workforce as veterinarians.

But soon, Utah State will have its own full-time veterinary school. USU and national veterinary leaders hope in the coming years, the new school will be an asset toward addressing a national — and local — shortage of animal health care providers.

Utah State’s new college

Dirk Vanderwall, the college’s interim dean and a professor, started at Utah State in 2012 when the regional program — called the Washington-Idaho-Montana-Utah Regional Program, or WIMU — began. Every year, a new cohort of 30 students, 20 Utah residents and 10 nonresidents, enter the four-year program and eventually graduate from Washington State.

In 2022, the Utah Legislature approved funding to create Utah State’s new College of Veterinary Medicine . Vanderwall, recently tapped to become the college’s first full-time dean starting July 1 , said the creation of the new school is a significant achievement and the number of veterinary students will grow in the coming years.

“We will be able to increase our class size from its current 30 to 80 students in each class,” Vanderwall told The Salt Lake Tribune and Utah Public Radio. “We’re planning for 40 positions for Utah residents, 40 positions for nonresidents.”

But that increase won’t happen for a while. The college’s first four-year cohort will start in the fall of 2025 and will be limited to 40 students in its inaugural year. Vanderwall said the college will grow to 80 new students per year when its new facilities are built just south of the Logan campus.

In the meantime, there are gaps in veterinary care, like shortages in care for livestock, in rural parts of the country.

‘A perfect storm’ of veterinary shortages

The shortage of veterinarians isn’t new , but the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the lingering problems, according to Dr. Rena Carlson , an Idaho veterinarian and president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“The pandemic kind of created a perfect storm in which we saw an increased demand for veterinary service,” Carlson said in an interview, “but we also saw veterinary practices become less efficient because we had to go curbside, we had to restrict staff, many staff members left due to COVID.”

The situation has since improved, Carlson said, but the shortages are still prevalent, mostly in rural parts of the county.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture tracks the shortages of veterinary services across the county, and the vast majority of states have at least one area with an identified shortage.

Utah’s shortages are in predominantly rural areas. Counties like Cache , Rich , Duchesne and Uintah counties are listed as areas that lack the appropriate number of private veterinarians that can care to animals that produce food products, according to the USDA.

Both Carlson and Gowans said recent veterinary school graduates can make more money in urban or suburban areas, which can disincentivize new graduates from working in rural communities.

Veterinary students also typically graduate with a large amount of debt. A 2023 study from the American Veterinary Medical Association found the average debt for 2022 graduates was $147,258 — which was a 6% decrease from 2020. The USDA and Utah both have programs to incentivize recent graduates to open rural practices, but the veterinary shortages remain.

For 2023-2024 , in-state tuition through the WIMU program costs around $26,000 per year, while out-of-state students could pay between $50,000 and $62,000 per year. Gowans said the benefit of in-state tuition was a big reason she chose the WIMU program.

Tuition costs for Utah State’s new four-year program are expected to be similar to the cost of the current WIMU program, according to the university .

More veterinarians in the west

As of now, USU’s new college is still in the accreditation process, as the current WIMU program is accredited through Washington State. Vanderwall said the new college will be evaluated by the American Veterinary Medical Association during a visit later this year, and he’s confident the accreditation process will go smoothly.

When the college officially launches, it will be the eighth veterinary school in the western United States . The current closest school to Utah is Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

The increased number of veterinary school students and graduates will certainly help the state and regional shortages, Carlson said, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to fix the problem, especially with shortages in rural areas.

“The economics are incredibly complex, and so there’s no way for us to be able to just say, ‘This is a perfect fix,’” Carlson said. “So just adding more people does not necessarily mean they’re going to actually go to those particular segments of the profession.”

For now, Utah students like Gowans will continue to move north to finish their degrees. Though she’s only about halfway through the program, Gowans said she plans to move back to Tooele and work with her dad and sister in their practice after she graduates.

Even though Toole County isn’t listed in the USDA shortages, she said the workload of a rural veterinarian can be staggering, at least in her personal experience.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad or my sister work less than probably a 60- to 80-hour week,” Gowans said.

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Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation

7. partisanship in rural, suburban and urban communities, table of contents.

• What this report tells us – and what it doesn’t
• Partisans and partisan leaners in the U.S. electorate
• Party identification and ideology
• Education and partisanship
• Education, race and partisanship
• Partisanship by race and gender
• Partisanship across educational and gender groups by race and ethnicity
• Gender and partisanship
• Parents are more Republican than voters without children
• Partisanship among men and women within age groups
• Race, age and partisanship
• The partisanship of generational cohorts
• Religion, race and ethnicity, and partisanship
• Party identification among atheists, agnostics and ‘nothing in particular’
• Partisanship and religious service attendance
• Partisanship by income groups
• The relationship between income and partisanship differs by education
• Union members remain more Democratic than Republican
• Homeowners are more Republican than renters
• Partisanship of military veterans
• Demographic differences in partisanship by community type
• Race and ethnicity
• Age and the U.S. electorate
• Education by race and ethnicity
• Religious affiliation
• Ideological composition of voters
• Acknowledgments
• Overview of survey methodologies
• The 2023 American Trends Panel profile survey methodology
• Measuring party identification across survey modes
• Adjusting telephone survey trends
• Appendix B: Religious category definitions
• Appendix C: Age cohort definitions

Voters’ partisanship has long varied by the type of community they live in. Those in urban counties mostly align with the Democratic Party, while the reverse is true among those in rural counties. In suburbs, where a majority of Americans live , voters’ partisanship is fairly evenly divided.

There have been only modest changes in these patterns in recent years. Over the past two decades, however, voters in rural counties have become increasingly Republican.

• In 2000, the Republican Party held a narrow leaned identification advantage over the Democratic Party among rural voters (51% vs. 45%), but that grew substantially over the next decade. By 2010, the GOP’s advantage had widened to 13 percentage points. It has nearly doubled since then, and the Republican Party now holds a 25-point edge over the Democratic Party.
• The Democratic Party, by contrast, has a nearly identical advantage among voters in urban counties: 60% identify with or lean to the Democratic Party, while 37% identify as or lean Republican. This gap has been relatively consistent over the past two decades, though it is slightly narrower than in 2016 (when 65% of voters in urban counties associated with the Democratic Party and 34% with the GOP).
• By comparison, suburban voters have been closely divided over the past two decades. Half of voters in suburban counties currently align with the Republican Party, while 47% associate with the Democratic Party – identical to the shares who aligned with each party in 2000.

For the most part, the demographic differences in partisanship seen among all voters are evident among those living in different community types.

• Women voters are less likely than men to align with the GOP, and this is evident across urban, suburban and rural counties.
• Younger voters are less committed to the Republican Party than are older voters, regardless of the type of county in which they live.
• White voters in rural counties are especially likely to identify as Republican or lean Republican (66% do so). That compares with 57% of White voters in suburbs and 48% in urban counties.
• Among Hispanic, Black and Asian voters, there is little difference in partisanship between those who live in urban counties and those who live in suburban counties. (Hispanic, Asian and Black rural voters are smaller groups, and sample sizes do not allow for separate reporting.)

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Q&A with 2024 spring graduate, Pauline Ho

On May 10-11, UW–Madison and the School of Education will celebrate its latest cohort of talented graduates with 2024 Spring Commencement celebrations. Ahead of this big weekend, we reached out to a few of our graduating students to learn more about their accomplishments, time at UW–Madison, and future plans.

Pauline Ho, who is graduating with a PhD in Educational Psychology, is one student who agreed to share their thoughts with us. Ho’s path to earning her doctorate has not always been easy: 

“When I started this program, I had just $3,000 in my bank account, no background in psychology, and English was my fourth language,” she says. “As a first-generation college student, neither of my parents had finished elementary school.”

Though she has encountered numerous challenges, Ho has shown a remarkable ability to turn those challenges into opportunities and mentor first-generation college students like herself.

Her research focuses on identity development, and she notes that this interest stems from her own quest to answer the questions: “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to be?”

Read on to learn more about Ho:

Where are you from, and what brought you to UW–Madison? I grew up in a rural area in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States, settling in Los Angeles when I was 12, with no knowledge of English. I completed my undergraduate degree in education sciences and social policy and public services at the University of California, Irvine. My involvement in educational research dates back to my freshman year at UC Irvine when I focused on instructional practices within classrooms and their impact on the educational experiences of underrepresented students.

I applied to UW–Madison’s Ed Psych program primarily due to its top-ranked status and my interest in understanding how individual development influences educational experiences. Another significant factor in my decision to come here was its full funding package; I was fortunate to receive support for my PhD studies from both the WCER Fellowship and the School of Education’s Graduate Research Scholars (Ed-GRS) program.

Your research focuses on identity development. Can you share a bit more about this work, how it came about, and why it’s important to you? When I started this program, I had just $3,000 in my bank account, no background in psychology, and English was my fourth language. As a first-generation college student, neither of my parents had finished elementary school. Additionally, this was my first experience at a predominantly white institution, and I was grappling with the challenges of being a survivor of depression — struggling with self-doubt, low self-esteem, and constant worries about others’ perceptions of me. The identity crisis hit me hard during my first two years at UW–Madison, leading me to take a break from school in my second year due to depression again.

My interest in identity development stems from my quest to answer the questions, “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to be?” Determined to find answers, I returned in my third year. I chose to focus on ethnic-racial identity for my master’s thesis and professional identity for my dissertation, as both have been personally significant to me in recent years.

Born in Vietnam, raised in Chinese culture, and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, I often feel like I don’t fully belong to any one group; I am unable to completely relate to any culture. Existing theories fail to fully explain my situation, motivating me to explore how people come to understand their ethnic-racial identity and its diversity.

I also struggled with defining who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, prompting further exploration of this topic when considering my dissertation. For my dissertation, I’m focusing on professional identity development, specifically in nursing. The pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to study how nursing students develop their professional identities within a shared context that affects everyone.

My work in identity development emphasizes the diversity and uniqueness of people’s experiences and stresses that individuals are the active agents of their own development. I not only live this belief, but it is also my mentoring philosophy when I work with others. For example, when I have worked with undergraduates (20 so far), I always provided the opportunity and encouraged them to reflect on their experiences and find their passions. Some of my current undergrads will be attending graduate schools next fall at Harvard, UPenn, Vanderbilt, and Columbia. I recently received the Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities , and am the first graduate student to receive this award in the School of Education.

Can you share some challenges you’ve encountered during your path, and how you’ve worked to overcome them? Given my starting point, this journey has been undoubtedly challenging. Over the past few years, I’ve faced 15 rejections across various domains including grants, awards, scholarships, fellowships, and journal submissions. However, in most cases, I persisted by reapplying and ultimately succeeded. During my time at UW–Madison, I have been awarded approximately $25,000 for research grants, awards, and scholarships, totaling 12 in number. Both my work and the work of my undergraduates have been honored with Best Research Awards at international conferences.  

One notable example is my experience with my master’s thesis in 2018. Initially lacking a strong understanding of theories, the project did not yield the desired results. Upon returning, I reworked my proposal and relaunched the research. After two years, I successfully defended my master’s thesis and submitted it to a journal, only to face a desk rejection due to sample-size constraints. But I opted to redo the study, which consumed another 1.5 years. Finally, it is set to be published in Developmental Psychology, a top-tier journal in my field that rarely publishes qualitative work. Although the project demanded 4.5 years of dedication, it documented my growth as a scholar — being grant-funded, recognized with conference accolades, and on the verge of publication.

What have been some meaningful experiences at UW–Madison? My advisor, Brad Brown, the WCER program, and my research collaboration during the pandemic have been especially impactful.

• Advisor: I vividly recall a moment during my first year when we were hanging out at Brad’s house, and everyone was playing ping-pong. I was scared to join in because I was afraid of messing up and revealing that I wasn’t good enough. Then, Brad approached me and said, “You can’t learn if you don’t try.” This message has stayed with me until today, influencing every facet of my life. Brad is known to be a very challenging professor with an incredible understanding of theory. I, on the other hand, used to dislike theories. In his theory class, I received the lowest grade on the exam. In the past seven years, he has always challenged me with difficult questions, but he’s also always there for me when I need support and encouragement, especially when applying for opportunities.
• The WCER Fellows program holds a seminar every Friday, bringing together all fellows to discuss research, graduate school, and life. During my first two years, this served as a valuable safety net or safe space for me to openly address my imposter syndrome and seek answers to questions about graduate school and research. I also recall presenting our research ideas during these seminars and having the opportunity to receive supportive feedback from each other.
• COVID-19 Communication Task Force : In the spring of 2020, I joined a group of interdisciplinary researchers, outreach specialists, and practitioners who came together to encourage Wisconsin residents to adhere to physical or social distancing guidelines using evidence-based public health recommendations and communication and behavior change best practices. It was amazing to see how diverse the team was and how willing everyone was to work together to tackle this challenge. This was also my first experience witnessing the Wisconsin Idea in action from beginning to end. Our collaborative efforts not only resulted in practical recommendations being implemented but also led to my first authored publication. This experience truly underscored the value of interdisciplinary work and the importance of addressing real-life problems through research.

What’s next for you? What are your plans for the future? I will be a visiting assistant professor in developmental psychology at Reed College. One major aspect of my responsibilities at Reed will be to mentor undergraduates in conducting their senior thesis research. My ultimate career goal is to secure a tenure-track faculty position at a research-intensive university like UW–Madison.

Thinking about the principle of the Wisconsin Idea , how will you use what you have learned at UW–Madison to influence other people’s lives or positively impact our world? Looking ahead, I aim to continue leveraging what I’ve learned at UW–Madison to positively influence others’ lives and contribute to our world. I intend to apply the principles of the Wisconsin Idea by engaging in collaborative research and outreach initiatives that address pressing societal issues and promote healthy identity development.

Whether through mentoring, teaching, or conducting research, I strive to empower individuals to recognize their potential, find their unique identities, and effect positive change in their communities.

As a scholar, my long-term goals are: 1) to conduct meaningful research that positions individuals as active agents in their development, 2) to advance our understanding of the complex relationship between human development and educational experiences, and 3) to generate recommendations aimed at fostering healthy development and creating equitable, inclusive learning environments.

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