Gates Foundation grant to support identification of out-of-school experiences that develop youth’s occupational identity

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Associate Professor June Ahn (right) a three-year, $500,000 grant to identify factors that motivate youth toward occupational careers.

Titled “Occupational Identity Research Practice Partnerships: Evaluation and Practical Measurement,” the grant will support Ahn and his research team’s work with educators and youth in afterschool programs to understand the key experiences that shape youths’ identity development and interest in pursuing careers in technology, media, and related industries.

Once these experiences are identified, the research team will develop a set of practical measures that the broader field of out-of-school learning and career programs can use to formatively track the development of youth in their programs.

In conducting this research, Ahn will be working closely with Mimi Ito, professor in residence at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, and Vera Michalchik, associate director and senior researcher from UCI’s Connected Learning Lab. 

Ahn is director of the School of Education’s Orange County Educational Advancement Network (OCEAN). Established in fall 2018, OCEAN is a network of research-practice partnerships between the School of Education and K-12 schools in Orange County. At each site, a School of Education faculty member and doctoral student work with school leadership to identify the greatest needs and goals of the school, and in turn conduct research that will positively impact the school.
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Ahn co-designs technology with community partners for diverse learning contexts. He has engaged in research-practice partnerships around emerging technologies including social media, alternate reality games, and data visualization platforms. His research interests include learning technologies, research-practice partnerships, human-computer interaction, educational technology, and data use and analytics.