Doctoral student receives Faculty Mentor Award Honorable Mention

​Third-year doctoral student Maritza Morales-Garcia (right) received a Faculty Mentor Award Honorable Mention and $1,000 in support of her research from UCI Graduate Division.

Faculty Mentor Awards are designed to increase the number of students who complete their Ph.D. degree and successfully acquire a faculty appointment.

​Morales-Garcia is specializing in Human Development in Context (HDiC) and Educational Policy and Social Context (EPSC). Her research interests include parenting, poverty, policy, child development, educational equity, achievement differences, and social-cultural capital. She is advised by Assistant Professor Jade Jenkins.

Morales-Garcia's career goal is to effectively advocate for and inform evidence-based family policies as a means to lessen-poverty related disparities in child development outcomes, with a focus on Latinx families. ​