Research
Supervised Research
I conducted supervised research under the mentorship of Dr. Garett, focusing on questions of multiracial identity, authenticity, and belonging. Through this project, I contributed to the development of interview protocols, reviewed literature on identity regulation, and analyzed qualitative data to examine how individuals with mixed or complex cultural backgrounds navigate social expectations across contexts. This work strengthened my ability to identify patterns in how people anticipate identity-related challenges and adapt self-expression in response to situational cues.
Analytically, the project examined how individuals anticipate and manage identity-related evaluations across social contexts, with attention to how situational cues shape the regulation of authenticity. A central insight from this project emerged through participants’ accounts of subtle, recurring social pressures—such as being questioned, mis-categorized, or implicitly expected to explain aspects of their identity. These narratives deepened my interest in how identity flexibility develops and how psychological safety varies across environments. Engaging closely with participants’ experiences reinforced my focus on authenticity regulation and the contextual conditions that support or undermine belonging.
Working closely with Dr. Garett allowed me to build methodological grounding in qualitative research and refine my theoretical interests in social identity processes. This experience continues to shape my research trajectory and motivates my pursuit of more advanced, theory-driven work in social psychology during doctoral training.
Diversity & Discrimination in the
Workplace Lab at Rice University
In 2021, I worked as a research assistant with the Diversity & Discrimination in the Workplace Lab at Rice University, supporting empirical research on racism, sexism, and structural inequality in organizational contexts. My role involved assisting with a meta-analytic project examining forgiveness, racial prejudice, and workplace inequality. I contributed to literature syntheses and gained exposure to theoretical debates on prejudice reduction, moral repair, and power asymmetries in organizational systems. I also assisted with participant recruitment, including outreach to marginalized healthcare professionals, which provided hands-on experience with the methodological and ethical challenges of studying discrimination in applied settings. This work deepened my understanding of issues such as recruitment constraints, contextual sensitivity, and the challenges involved in translating theory into measurable constructs.
In addition, I participated regularly in lab meetings and research discussions, where I observed how psychological research is developed collaboratively through critique, hypothesis refinement, and attention to methodological rigor. These experiences strengthened my understanding of how research design choices shape conclusions about discrimination and inequality. During this period, I was mentored by Dr. Shannon Cheng, whose guidance emphasized the importance of theoretical precision and empirical discipline in psychological research. This early research experience played a formative role in my academic development and continues to inform my interest in theory-driven work on social evaluation, bias, and structural inequity.
Current Research Focus
My current research focus centers on how social and institutional contexts shape the effectiveness of bias-reduction efforts and the regulation of identity expression. Drawing on social psychological theory, I am particularly interested in understanding when interventions aimed at reducing bias succeed, fade, or produce unintended consequences.
I am motivated by evidence suggesting that many bias-reduction strategies demonstrate limited durability, and I seek to examine the psychological and contextual conditions that support sustained change. This includes attention to how evaluative environments, power asymmetries, and norms surrounding authenticity influence experiences of belonging and psychological safety across social settings.
Research Methods & Training
My research training spans qualitative and quantitative approaches, with experience contributing to interview protocol development, literature synthesis, and qualitative data analysis. Through supervised research and lab-based work, I have engaged with methodological decisions related to construct operationalization, sampling constraints, and ethical considerations when studying inequality and bias in applied contexts.
I have also gained exposure to meta-analytic reasoning, collaborative hypothesis refinement, and theory-driven interpretation of empirical findings. These experiences have strengthened my interest in developing methodologically rigorous, theory-informed research during doctoral training.
Doctoral Research Trajectory
In my doctoral training, I aim to conduct theory-driven research on how individuals navigate evaluative environments and how institutional structures shape opportunities for belonging, authenticity, and inclusion. I am particularly interested in integrating social psychological theory with empirical work that addresses real-world inequality without sacrificing methodological rigor.
My long-term goal is to contribute research that clarifies the conditions under which social change efforts are effective and to develop interventions that are sensitive to context, power, and identity processes.
Research Foundations & Development
My research training has developed across both academic and applied environments, shaping how I formulate questions about inequality, belonging, and institutional behavior. Early work in organizational and workplace contexts grounded my interest in how bias and power operate in real-world settings, while subsequent supervised research refined my focus on identity regulation, authenticity, and psychological safety.
Together, these experiences inform a research trajectory centered on developing theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous work that bridges social psychological theory with lived social dynamics. I am particularly interested in how individuals navigate evaluative environments and how institutional structures shape opportunities for belonging.