Jeanette Zambrano

Broadly, I study motivation processes and explore how aspects of the self, the context, and other people shape these processes. A large part of my research agenda has focused on motivation support through instruction, contextual cues, and social interactions, with a particular focus on students of color and girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. I have developed three interrelated lines of research: (1) student agency and agentic engagement and its relation to motivation and achievement, (2) “culturalizing” learning, instruction, and motivation support, and (3) science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) identity and its implications for persistence and achievement in STEM. Key questions across my research agenda include how the social environment is (in)congruent with an individuals’ culture, and how the social environment might be changed to support the whole self of the individual for optimal motivation. I employ various research methodologies, including survey research, experiments (in laboratory and natural settings), interviews, focus groups, mixed methods, and meta-analysis.

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