ATLANTA—Several Georgia State University graduate students spent their summers participating in mentoring programs and internships with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), one of the world’s leading behavioral and social science research and evaluation organizations.
As a partner in the AIR Pipeline Partnership Program (P3), Georgia State collaborates with AIR, Howard University and the University of Texas at San Antonio to foster diversity and cultural competence in behavioral and social science research and application.
Six doctoral students were selected to participate in P3 Engage Mentoring, a program that supports doctoral students from underrepresented backgrounds as they explore career opportunities by matching them with preeminent researchers or scholars to guide them and support their progress. These mentoring relationships provide students with an opportunity to explore various career paths and expand their network to include industry experts, leaders and peers.
Student participants include:
- Sing Hui Lee, Ph.D. in political science
- Kamil Williams, Ph.D. in sociology
- MariTere Molinet, Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology
- Leah Burney, Ph.D. in English
- Busra Nur Ozguler Aktel, Ph.D in political science
- Shanae Stover, Ph.D. in sociology
Four master’s and doctoral students completed paid summer internships at AIR, with focus areas including education, education systems and research:
- Katelyn Caton, Ph.D. in education policy studies – research, measurement and statistics
- T M Miuru Bhashithe Abeysinghe, Ph.D. in computer science
- Jasmine James, M.S. in educational research
- Gal Kaldes, Ph.D. in psychology
“The paid summer internship at AIR has afforded me the opportunity to learn more about evidence-based strategies to increase equity and inclusion with a particular focus on housing, education and community engagement,” Kaldes said.
AIR also hosted a virtual four-day workshop for graduate students on cultural and linguistic competence in survey design and methodology. Leading experts explored culturally and linguistically competent practices in scientifically valid and inclusive survey design.
“Our participation in the AIR Pipeline Partnership Program has provided Georgia State students with opportunities to learn more about careers in research and engage with leaders and practitioners in the field,” said Lisa Armistead, dean of The Graduate School. “This allows our students to contribute to the diversification of the fields of social and behavioral sciences.”
Additional programming will be available to Georgia State students in the coming academic year.
For more information about the American Institutes for Research, visit air.org. For more information about The Graduate School, visit graduate.gsu.edu.