The Educational Psychology department is proud to celebrate Pauline Ho, a current PhD candidate in the Human Development area, who received several awards this year recognizing her work in identity involvement.
Awarded the 2023 UW-Madison School of Education Thora Wick Homme Memorial Scholarship for her dissertation, Pauline writes:
The Thora Wick Homme Scholarship supports my dissertation work, which is a longitudinal qualitative study exploring the development of professional identity (PI) among nursing students. This study aims to provide 1) insights into the processes of how PI develops over time (empirical contribution), 2) clarification of the concept of PI (conceptual contribution), and 3) a firmer foundation for program development and curriculum planning for future nursing students to develop a stronger PI (practical implications).
Additionally, Pauline was awarded two Best Student Research Awards at the 2023 International Society for Research on Identity (ISRI) for her papers “Black Youth’s Ethnic and Racial Identity Trajectories from Childhood to Emerging Adulthood: A Developmental Contextual Perspective,” and “What it Means to be Asian American?”: Perspective of Asian American Young Adults on Identification and Its Meanings.” Pauline reflects on what this achievement meant to her:
These two awards hold immense meaning and significance to me as a researcher and scholar. Both studies are my “first” fully independent projects, which will serve as the foundation of my research program after graduation. Both studies received research grants during the proposal stages for their potential scientific impact. In addition to empirical contributions, these two papers have theoretical implications that can advance current frameworks in the field of identity development. Receiving these awards at an international conference for research on identity is a powerful affirmation of my ability to conduct methodologically rigorous, empirically, and theoretically meaningful research as well as mentor undergraduate students.
Congratulations to Pauline on receiving these prestigious awards!