Sumin Kim is a first-year PhD student working with Dr. Annamaria Csizmadia, specializing in Diversity and Culture. Originally from Seoul, Korea, Sumin lived in the Netherlands, Dubai, and Germany before moving to the United States. Her diverse international experiences have significantly shaped her research interests in multicultural identities and the psychological complexities faced by children navigating multiple cultures. Sumin earned her bachelor’s from Sungkyunkwan University in Korea, with a double major in Psychology and Child Psychology & Education, focusing on child development. She then pursued a master’s degree in Child Development and Family Studies at Yonsei University, where she integrated youth development with an understanding of societal influences on developmental trajectories. During her master’s program, Sumin led counseling sessions at a regional children’s center, focusing on racial-ethnic socialization to help multiracial youth adapt to Korean society. In her master’s thesis she explored the psychological challenges faced by Korean multicultural youth returning after living abroad, emphasizing the critical role of social support in navigating cultural identity issues. After completing her master’s, Sumin worked as a researcher at Seoul National University’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Lab, contributing to projects on minority children with neurodevelopmental disorders. She later worked as a psychotherapist, helping multicultural children develop social and academic skills to adjust to mainstream society, which gave her firsthand experience of how multiculturalism impacts psychological well-being.

At UConn, Sumin’s research focuses on how cultural factors, such as ethnic-racial identity and racial socialization, shape the developmental trajectories and socialization processes of multicultural youth. Her work delves into understanding acculturation experiences of immigrant populations, with particular emphasis on identifying the protective factors and strengths that support multicultural youth through these transitions. Through her research, she aims to lay the foundation for interventions that address inequity and discrimination, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for multicultural youth.

Outside of her academic work, Sumin enjoys swimming, skiing, traveling, and taking photos. As this is her first time living in the United States, she is excited to explore the area and experience the local culture. Embracing this new chapter, she hopes to broaden her personal and cultural horizons during her time in the U.S.

Graduate student Vanessa Esquivel received the 2024 Professional Development Grant for Emerging Scholars Studying Poverty and Economic Mobility among Latino Populations from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families. The 2024 Professional Development Grant ($2,750) aims to support the professional, academic, and scholarly development of doctoral students pursuing research that focuses on poverty and economic mobility among Latino communities.

Lily Gorman is a first-year PhD student in the HDFS program. She specializes in Adulthood, Aging, and Gerontology and hopes to research familial caregiving and end-of-life decisions under advisor Dr. Laura Donorfio.

Although Lily grew up in Massachusetts, she was raised as a UConn fan since her parents and extended family are from Connecticut. She graduated from Salve Regina University in 2020 with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience and Spanish. She had a range of undergraduate research interests including autism, death in the family, and the effects of a childhood belief in Santa Claus. Due to her personal experiences, she was inspired to shift her focus to elderly populations and spent over 3 years working at the Boston Center for Memory on 25+ Alzheimer’s Disease clinical research trials.

Her current research interests include the dynamics between multiple caregivers in a family, ways to improve discussions about death and end-of-life choices, and how different personal factors influence caregiving experiences, such as gender, age, culture, etc.

Lily spends her free time reading, playing chess, and going to the beach whenever she can. She is a washed-up collegiate tennis player who now prefers to stay active via exercise classes and long walks.

Elise is a first-year PhD student working with Dr. Eva Lefkowitz. She grew up in Seattle, but moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University (BYU). At BYU, Elise graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and minor in Global Women’s Studies. At BYU, she worked as a head teaching assistant for several courses, including human development and gender development, where she developed a love for studying gender and sexuality across childhood and adolescence. Working with Dr. Adam Rogers and his research team on Project ADEPT (Advancing the Development of Emotional Proficiencies in Teens), Elise completed her minor capstone studying the relationship dynamics of parents and their sexual-minority teens. She presented this project and two other projects focused on gender issues at the Mary Lou Fulton Conference held by BYU. Through her teaching and research experience at BYU, she developed a passion for both practices that fueled her desire to pursue further education and eventually become a professor.

At UConn, Elise aims to further study how children and adolescents understand and express gender and sexuality throughout their development. Specifically, she wants to investigate the influence that parents and families have on their children’s understanding of these concepts. She is fascinated by the intersection of family life and social development: how parents and families help shape their kids’ perceptions of social norms and roles. Through studying these topics, Elise hopes to translate research into practice by providing parents with guidance on how to better communicate about gender and sexuality with their kids in a healthy, inclusive, and accepting manner.

Although she aims to teach at the university level, Elise loves working directly with infants and children. For two years, she volunteered at Family Haven in the crisis nursery and helped provide children of all ages with respite care. Over the summer, she also worked at a childcare center as a teacher with infants aged 6-12 months. While she loved learning about child development in the classroom, she found it even more insightful to witness the immense growth and personality development made at this age in such a short time.