Doctoral student receives Seed Grant from Consortium on the Developmental Science of Adolescence

Doctoral student Jenny Woo has been awarded an $8,000 seed grant from the University of California Consortium on the Developmental Science of Adolescence to support her research project, Promoting College Students’ Sense of Belonging through Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)​.

"My project will broaden and assess the effects of a skills-oriented SEL pilot program on college students’ sense of belonging," Woo said. "I hope that my findings will result in a culturally-responsive SEL program that serves as a practical and scalable intervention for improving students’ sense of belonging and persistence in higher education across UC campuses."

Woo will work with her advisor Professor Susanne Jaeggi. Additionally, she will collaborate with Professor Margarita Azmitia from the department of psychology at UC Santa Cruz.

With support from UC Office of the President, the UC Consortium on the Developmental Science of Adolescence is a part of the Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives. The consortium consists of multidisciplinary researchers from UCLA, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UCI, and UC Santa Cruz. The Consortium hosts a yearly summer institute, where Woo will be presenting her research in 2020.

​​Woo's research interests include social-emotional learning, development of executive functions, family engagement, motivation, identity development, and critical consciousness. Woo, who holds a master's degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard University and a M.B.A. from UC Berkeley, has worked as a human capital consultant, executive coach, Montessori language director, career coach, and university instructor. Read more about Woo's research projects here.