- Departments/Offices:
- Applied Psychology in Education and Research Methodology
- Academic Programs:
- Human Development
- Research Areas:
- Motivation, Belonging, Race/Racism
- Room:
- ED 4064
- Email:
- knicolai@iu.edu
- Curriculum Vitae
About Me
I am a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society and a Visiting Professor in the Department Applied Psychology in Education & Research Methodology and specifically within the Human Development program. I received my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University.
I have two main research focuses. 1) Understanding and reckoning with how systems of oppression impact academic spaces and how those spaces impact Black and Latine students’ belonging and motivation to ultimately change academic spaces to promote equity. I focus on adolescents and young adults. 2) How we can take critical and affirming approaches in the educational and developmental psychology fields, in our teaching, research, and field norms. To do this work I integrate across disciplines and use qualitative, mixed-methods, and quantitative approaches to research. I also emphasize student and participant voice within my research.
Recent work appears in the Journal of Social Issues, the Journal of Adolescent Research, and Middle School Journal. I have received recognition for my dissertation and research through an APA Division 15 Dissertation Research Award, the Andrew and Darnetta Daire Dissertation Scholarship, the Paul Pintrich Memorial Award, and a Presidential Award for Community Multicultural Enrichment.