- Rebecca Covarrubias
Biography
Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Faculty Director of the Student Success Equity Research Center at UC Santa Cruz. She earned her PhD in social psychology at The University of Arizona before becoming a University Diversity Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow for the Center of the Study of Diversity and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware. As a social and cultural psychologist, Dr. Covarrubias examines how institutional structures perpetuate educational inequality by privileging middle-class, White ways of being and thereby undermining outcomes for low-income, first-generation students of color (e.g., Latinx, Native). She then examines how to reverse these effects through culturally-informed approaches that draw attention to students’ cultural strengths. With her team of student researchers in the Culture and Achievement Collaborative, she works to translate their research into actionable practices that can shift the culture of institutions and can help students thrive.
- Maryam Hussain
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716Biography
Dr. Maryam Hussain worked as a research analyst with the Center for the Study of Diversity. She earned her PhD in Educational Psychology with a focus in Learning & Development and Statistics & Measurement from the University of Houston (Houston, TX). Her research interests are in understanding the sociocultural challenges second-generation immigrant Americans face and how these challenges impact internalizing mental health disorders and academic success. Specifically, she is interested in how these challenges are navigated in higher education.
- Jeong Min Lee
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716Biography
Min Lee was a graduate assistant with the Center for the Study of Diversity. She worked with Dr. James Jones on the development and validation of the Diversity Competency Scale, as well as the understanding the behavioral correlates of diversity competency. In addition to her work at the Center, Min received her doctorate in Psychological & Brain Sciences, where she examined how cultures (East Asian & Western cultural contexts) differ in the exchange of feedback in friendship interactions. Min is now a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Bryn Mawr College where she is continuing to explore diversity competency and attitudes toward diversity initiatives on campus with her senior theses students.