Diane Lee

Diane Lee is a Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Erika Patall in the Education Psychology concentration of the Urban Education Policy program. Diane serves as a member of the Motivation and Education Research Group, where she examines the ways in which teachers support student motivation and well-being across K-12 and higher education. She is interested in examining social-emotional processes in the classroom that supports healthy development and positive academic identities in traditionally marginalized student populations.

Before coming to USC, Diane served as the Director of Education at the Turner Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA, where she worked with youth in an after-school setting. During her time as Director of Education, she utilized research to inform the education curriculum she built, led and coordinated staff development workshops on learning and adverse childhood experiences, built partnerships with other local non-profits and businesses, and more. She also worked as a graduate student researcher in the Social Cognitive Development Lab at UC Santa Barbara, where she examined social development in infants and young children; more specifically, how they think about power dynamics, race, and language membership. Her past work in the non-profit sector, as a developmental psychology researcher, and as a social psychology researcher informs her current research interests.

USC Provost's PhD Fellowship