Equity in Graduate Education and Research Training

Our work examines how graduate programs and professional communities can expand access, foster belonging, and respond to students’ cultural and international backgrounds. Studies in this area address recruitment and retention, multicultural training, research mentorship, and supervision in school psychology.

Our systematic review identified strategies for recruiting and retaining a diverse school psychology graduate student body, including institutional partnerships, mentoring, and sustained faculty and peer support (Kim, Jackson, et al., 2025).

Consistent with this work, the lab developed Bridge to Research in School Psychology (BRiSP), supported by a 2025–2026 UC–HBCU Summer Internship Training Grant from the University of California Office of the President ($87,307). The eight-week program connected undergraduates from Xavier University of Louisiana with research and writing support, professional development, graduate student mentoring, and opportunities to present their scholarship.

Bridge to Research in School Psychology (BRiSP) at UCR, summer 2026.

Our studies examine how international graduate students of color experience multicultural coursework, program environments, and interpersonal relationships in school psychology graduate programs. Participants identified supportive resources alongside institutional and interpersonal challenges, including instances in which U.S.-centered approaches to diversity did not fully reflect their identities and knowledge (Kim, Wang, et al., 2026; Wang, Kim, et al., 2026). This work points to ways programs can better recognize international students’ perspectives and support their belonging and professional development.

An in-press study examines what Asian and Asian American school psychology trainees value in university and field-based supervision (Wang et al., in press). This work extends our interest in how supervisory relationships and institutional practices contribute to trainees’ belonging and professional growth.