Biography
Dr. Nayssan Safavian is an Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests are broadly focused on understanding young people's motivated choices and academic and occupational attainment from underrepresented communities with a focus on gender, culture and ethnicity, and socioeconomic influences. She is a Co-Investigator alongside PI Jacquelynne Eccles and Co-PIs Anna-Lena Dicke and Micheal B. Dennin on a U.S. Department of Education grant to study undergraduates perceptions of science relevance with a focus on underrepresented students in science—first-generation, underrepresented minorities, and female students. She is also a Co-Investigator with PI Eccles and Co-PI Stuart Karabenick on a National Science Foundation award to build a 15-year longitudinal study of the math motivations, achievements, and post-secondary educational and occupational choices of Latinx youth.
Ms. Safavian was a member of the inaugural class of doctoral students in the School of Education at UC Irvine. As a first generation Iranian-American, her experiences inspire her to understand how social environments and experiences inform motivational processes for immigrant and ethnic minority youth.
Dr. Safavian received her Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Learning, Cognition, and Development. She was selected as a UC Irvine Chancellor’s Club Fund for Excellence Dissertation Distinguished Fellow as well as a UC Irvine Public Impact Dissertation Award Honoree. She also holds a M.A. in Education from UC Irvine and a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA. Her previous experiences include a Postdoctoral Fellowship with Distinguished Professor Jacquelynne Eccles and serving as a Research Analyst for Project Tomorrow.
Awards
Publications
Safavian, N. (2019). What Makes Them Persist? Expectancy-Value Beliefs and the Math Participation, Performance, and Preparedness of Hispanic Youth. AERA Open, 5(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419869342
Dicke, A. L., Safavian, N., & Eccles, J. S. (2019). Traditional Gender Role Beliefs and Career Attainment in STEM: A Gendered Story?. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1053.
Safavian, N., & Conley, A. (2016). Expectancy-Value Beliefs of Early-Adolescent Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Youth: Predictors of Mathematics Achievement and Enrollment. AERA Open, 2(4), 2332858416673357.
Johnson, M. L., & Safavian, N. (2016). What Is Cost and Is It Always a Bad Thing? Furthering the Discussion Concerning College-Aged Students' Perceived Costs for Their Academic Studies. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 15(3), 368-390.
Safavian, N. (2014). Examining the Impact of Motivation on Achievement and Course-Taking Behavior of Low-Income Minority Youth (Doctoral dissertation).
Presentations
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Karabenick, S. A., & Eccles, J. S. (August, 2019). The long reach of math motivation and educational aspirations of Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Gao, Y., & Eccles, J. S. (August, 2019). Do I belong in chemistry? Associations with socio-demographic background and perceived affordances. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Karabenick, S. A., & Eccles, J. S. (April, 2019). How much schooling is needed? Hispanic youth’s educational aspirations and their occupational aspiration’s educational requirement. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Safavian, N.S, Johnson, M.L., & Taasoobshirazi, G. (2019, April). Understanding the social costs of academic engagement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Gao, Y., & Eccles, J. S. (2019, April). Does chemistry offer what I want? Associations of socio-demographic background, perceived affordances and field belonging. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Umarji, O., Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Karabenick, S. A. & Eccles, J. S. (2019, April). Teachers Caring for Students and Students Caring for Math: Perceived Teacher Caring and Student Motivation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Gao, Y., Eccles, J. S., & Karabenick, S. A. (2018, August). Who, what and when? Understanding STEMM aspirations of adolescent Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Gender and STEM, Eugene, OR.
Safavian, N., Gao, Y., Dicke, A-L., Eccles, J. S., & Karabenick, S. A. (2018, August). From engineers to nurses: Gender differences in STEMM aspirations of Hispanic youth from middle-to-high school. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Safavian, N. (2018, August). What makes them persist? Expectancy-Value beliefs and the math participation and preparedness of Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Karabenick, S. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2018, August). Math Efficacy and Interest of Hispanic Youth: Impacts on Achievement and Course Preference across Adolescence. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Conference on Motivation, Denmark.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Karabenick, S. A., Eccles, J. S., & Conley, A. (2018, April). Gendered Patterns of Career Aspirations of Hispanic Youth from Middle-to-High School. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A.-L, Eccles, J. S., Karabenick, S., & Conley, A.M. (2017, April). Understanding occupational aspirations of early adolescent Hispanic youth: Associations of mathematics motivation and mathematics-relatedness of aspirations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.
Safavian, N., Lam, A. C., Lauermann, F., & Eccles, J. S. (2016, August). Examining gender differences in patterns of STEM-related career aspirations and attainment from early adolescence to adulthood. In Cambria, J. and Wille, E. (Chairs), “Advances and Issues in Gender and Motivation for STEM.” Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the International Conference on Motivation, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Safavian, N. (2016, March). Gendered patterns of STEM-related career choices from early adolescence to adulthood. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the PATHWAYS to Adulthood International Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme. London, UK.
Safavian, N. (2015, March). Expectancy-value beliefs, course-taking, and high school success among Hispanic high school youth. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Philadelphia, PA.
Safavian, N. (2014, November). Examining the impact of math motivation on the course-taking and high school success of low-income Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the PATHWAYS to Adulthood International Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme. Germany.
Dr. Nayssan Safavian is an Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests are broadly focused on understanding young people's motivated choices and academic and occupational attainment from underrepresented communities with a focus on gender, culture and ethnicity, and socioeconomic influences. She is a Co-Investigator alongside PI Jacquelynne Eccles and Co-PIs Anna-Lena Dicke and Micheal B. Dennin on a U.S. Department of Education grant to study undergraduates perceptions of science relevance with a focus on underrepresented students in science—first-generation, underrepresented minorities, and female students. She is also a Co-Investigator with PI Eccles and Co-PI Stuart Karabenick on a National Science Foundation award to build a 15-year longitudinal study of the math motivations, achievements, and post-secondary educational and occupational choices of Latinx youth.
Ms. Safavian was a member of the inaugural class of doctoral students in the School of Education at UC Irvine. As a first generation Iranian-American, her experiences inspire her to understand how social environments and experiences inform motivational processes for immigrant and ethnic minority youth.
Dr. Safavian received her Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Learning, Cognition, and Development. She was selected as a UC Irvine Chancellor’s Club Fund for Excellence Dissertation Distinguished Fellow as well as a UC Irvine Public Impact Dissertation Award Honoree. She also holds a M.A. in Education from UC Irvine and a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA. Her previous experiences include a Postdoctoral Fellowship with Distinguished Professor Jacquelynne Eccles and serving as a Research Analyst for Project Tomorrow.
Awards
- Co-Investigator with Jacquelynne S. Eccles (Principal Investigator) and Anna-Lena Dicke (Co-Principal Investigator). It’s worth it! Securing Persistence, Performance, and Progress within Postsecondary Gateway Science Courses through Utility Value Interventions. U.S. Department of Education Institute of Educational Sciences (IES); 2018 – 2022; $2,740,650
- Co-Investigator with Jacquelynne S. Eccles (Principal Investigator) and Stuart Karabenick (Co-Principal Investigator). Hispanics in STEM: Foundations of Persistence from Middle School to STEM Careers. National Science Foundation (NSF); 2015 – 2019; $1,499,989
Publications
Safavian, N. (2019). What Makes Them Persist? Expectancy-Value Beliefs and the Math Participation, Performance, and Preparedness of Hispanic Youth. AERA Open, 5(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419869342
Dicke, A. L., Safavian, N., & Eccles, J. S. (2019). Traditional Gender Role Beliefs and Career Attainment in STEM: A Gendered Story?. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1053.
Safavian, N., & Conley, A. (2016). Expectancy-Value Beliefs of Early-Adolescent Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Youth: Predictors of Mathematics Achievement and Enrollment. AERA Open, 2(4), 2332858416673357.
Johnson, M. L., & Safavian, N. (2016). What Is Cost and Is It Always a Bad Thing? Furthering the Discussion Concerning College-Aged Students' Perceived Costs for Their Academic Studies. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 15(3), 368-390.
Safavian, N. (2014). Examining the Impact of Motivation on Achievement and Course-Taking Behavior of Low-Income Minority Youth (Doctoral dissertation).
Presentations
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Karabenick, S. A., & Eccles, J. S. (August, 2019). The long reach of math motivation and educational aspirations of Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Gao, Y., & Eccles, J. S. (August, 2019). Do I belong in chemistry? Associations with socio-demographic background and perceived affordances. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Karabenick, S. A., & Eccles, J. S. (April, 2019). How much schooling is needed? Hispanic youth’s educational aspirations and their occupational aspiration’s educational requirement. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Safavian, N.S, Johnson, M.L., & Taasoobshirazi, G. (2019, April). Understanding the social costs of academic engagement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Gao, Y., & Eccles, J. S. (2019, April). Does chemistry offer what I want? Associations of socio-demographic background, perceived affordances and field belonging. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Umarji, O., Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Karabenick, S. A. & Eccles, J. S. (2019, April). Teachers Caring for Students and Students Caring for Math: Perceived Teacher Caring and Student Motivation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Gao, Y., Eccles, J. S., & Karabenick, S. A. (2018, August). Who, what and when? Understanding STEMM aspirations of adolescent Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Gender and STEM, Eugene, OR.
Safavian, N., Gao, Y., Dicke, A-L., Eccles, J. S., & Karabenick, S. A. (2018, August). From engineers to nurses: Gender differences in STEMM aspirations of Hispanic youth from middle-to-high school. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Safavian, N. (2018, August). What makes them persist? Expectancy-Value beliefs and the math participation and preparedness of Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Dicke, A-L., Safavian, N., Karabenick, S. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2018, August). Math Efficacy and Interest of Hispanic Youth: Impacts on Achievement and Course Preference across Adolescence. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Conference on Motivation, Denmark.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A-L., Karabenick, S. A., Eccles, J. S., & Conley, A. (2018, April). Gendered Patterns of Career Aspirations of Hispanic Youth from Middle-to-High School. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Safavian, N., Dicke, A.-L, Eccles, J. S., Karabenick, S., & Conley, A.M. (2017, April). Understanding occupational aspirations of early adolescent Hispanic youth: Associations of mathematics motivation and mathematics-relatedness of aspirations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.
Safavian, N., Lam, A. C., Lauermann, F., & Eccles, J. S. (2016, August). Examining gender differences in patterns of STEM-related career aspirations and attainment from early adolescence to adulthood. In Cambria, J. and Wille, E. (Chairs), “Advances and Issues in Gender and Motivation for STEM.” Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the International Conference on Motivation, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Safavian, N. (2016, March). Gendered patterns of STEM-related career choices from early adolescence to adulthood. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the PATHWAYS to Adulthood International Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme. London, UK.
Safavian, N. (2015, March). Expectancy-value beliefs, course-taking, and high school success among Hispanic high school youth. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Philadelphia, PA.
Safavian, N. (2014, November). Examining the impact of math motivation on the course-taking and high school success of low-income Hispanic youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the PATHWAYS to Adulthood International Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme. Germany.
