Doctoral students awarded fellowships, honorable mentions from UCI’s Graduate Division

School of Education doctoral students collectively received five fellowships and three honorable mentions from UCI’s Graduate Division. Fellowships honor students’ academic accomplishments and potential for future significant contributions to the academy.

President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship

Fourth-year doctoral candidate Ashley Harlow (right) received the President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship in support of her dissertation research into the impact of STEM higher education practices on student outcomes. The fellowship provides a yearly stipend of $23,000, full resident tuition and fees, a $500 travel allowance, and a paid summer internship.
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Harlow is specializing in Educational Policy and Social Context (EPSC). During her doctoral studies, she has focused on  educational inequality, student motivation, diversity and equity, opportunity gap, education policy reform, college access, cultural capital, urban school policy, and program implementation.
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Harlow, who is advised by Assistant Professor Di Xu and Distinguished Professor George Farkas, is one of only six doctoral students to receive the President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship from UCI.

​Two doctoral candidates received Honorable Mention and $1,000 each for the award: fifth-year doctoral candidate Mariela Rivas (left, see following fellowship) and fourth-year doctoral student Stephanie Soto-Lara (right).

​Soto-Lara, who is specializing in Human Development in Context (HDiC), is advised by Professor Sandra Simpkins and Chancellor’s Professor Emerita Deborah Lowe Vandell. Her research interests focus on educational trajectories of underrepresented youth.

Graduate Dean's Dissertation Fellowship

Fifth-year doctoral candidate Mariela Rivas (pictured above) and fourth-year doctoral candidate Qing Zhang (right) each received the Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship, which provides a $5,000 summer stipend for students nearing completion of their dissertation. UCI awarded 33 Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Year Fellowships campus-wide.

Rivas, who is advised by Professor Mark Warschauer and Assistant Professor Rachel Baker, is specializing in Learning, Teaching, Cognition, and Development (LTCD). She is researching how to improve college success among underrepresented college students in STEM courses and  focusing on low-cost interventions that can help all students succeed, through study skills training and formative assessment using interactive response systems. 

​Zhang is specializing in Educational Policy and Social Context. Her research is studying challenges in the scaling-up of early childhood education programs. She is advised by Assistant Professor Jade Jenkins and Distinguished Professor George Farkas. Read more about Zhang’s research here.

Inclusive Excellence Ambassador Fellowships

The UCI Graduate Division awarded second-year doctoral student Hye Rin Lee (left) and third-year doctoral student Khamia Powell (right) the Inclusive Excellence Ambassador Fellowship.

​Fellows are selected for their academic achievement and their commitment to inclusive excellence. They receive a $5,000 summer stipend to support their research and are expected to remotely mentor incoming graduate students who are first-generation and/or from a minority serving institution, and help them prepare for the start of their graduate studies at UCI. 

The fellowships are intended to advance UCI’s commitment to building and sustaining a campus community where all expect equity, support diversity, practice inclusion, and honor free speech. UCI awarded a total of 47 summer 2020 Inclusive Excellence Ambassador Fellowships.

Lee, who is advised by Distinguished Professor Jacquelynne Eccles, is specializing in Human Development in Context (HDiC). Powell, who studies Learning, Teaching, Cognition, and Development (LTCD), is advised by Prof. Eccles and Assistant Professor Adriana Villavicencio.

​Faculty Mentor Award Fellowship

UCI also awards Faculty Mentor Award Fellowships in the spring; the award package parallels the President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship described above.

​Second-year doctoral student Maritza Morales-Garcia (right) was awarded Honorable Mention and $1,000 in this category.

​Morales-Garcia is specializing in Human Development in Context (HDiC) and Educational Policy and Social Context (EPSC). She is advised by Prof. Jenkins.