| Graduate Trainee Profile: | |
 De'Sha S. WolfGraduate Trainee - Higher Education and Organizational Change Advisor: Pat McDonough Year Entered Doctoral Program at UCLA: 2005 Undergraduate School/Major: Northwestern University/History of the Americas Email:  Research: My general research interests are in family relationships during the college years, college access and retention for underrepresented students, and financial aid knowledge. I am currently investigating the phenomenon of family support and how it relates to undergraduates' academic and social experiences. The purpose this project is to uncover the meanings of what we call support and to identify the individuals who we consider family from the college student perspective. This study merges literature and theory from education, sociology, and psychology with the goal of situating family relationships during the college years within larger social, economic, and cultural contexts. In addition, I am interested in learning more about parent involvement in higher education. While scholarship on parent involvement in K-12 is abundant, there is little empirical research on parent involvement in higher education and how this involvement varies by such characteristics as gender, race/ethnicity, SES, or student major. I am particularly interested in exploring how parents are involved in the academic dimensions of the college student experience and how that relates to students' personal and academic development. Publications and conference presentations: Wolf, D.S., Harper, C.E., & Sax, L.J. (2007, November). An exploratory study of parent involvement in the academic lives of college students. Presented at the 32nd annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Louisville, KY. Harper, C.E., Wolf, D.S., & Sax, L.J. (2007, November). The relationship between parental involvement & college students' personal, academic, and social development. Presented at the 32nd annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Louisville, KY. Wolf, D., Harper, C., & Sax, L. J. (2007, April). An exploratory study of parent involvement in the academic lives of college students. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the Student Experience in the Research University Project/ University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey, Berkeley, CA. Buenavista, T., Harper, C., & McDonough, P., & Wolf, D.S. (2007, April). Polarized conceptualization of scholarship opportunities. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL. Calderone, S., Wolf, D.S., Paz, C., Ryan, E., & McDonough, P.M. (2007, April). Are African American and Latino/as Really Loan Averse? A Sociocultural Reframing of Existing Conversations on Debt Assumption, and Loan Resistance. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL. Allen, W.R., Griffin, K.A., Jayakumar, U.M., Kimura-Walsh, E.F., & Wolf, D.S. (2007, April). Ebony and the ivory tower: Trends in the socioeconomic status, achievement, and self-concept of black male freshmen between 1971 and 2004. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL. Wolf, D.S. (2007, February). Student perceptions of the dynamics of family support during the college years. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Sociology of Education Association. Monterey, CA. Wolf, D.S., McDonough, P., Buenavista, T., Perez, P., & Calderone, S. (2006, November). Paying for college: A sociocultural analysis of african american & latino/a students & parents. Paper presented at the 31st annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Anaheim, CA. Saenz, V. & Wolf, D. (2006). Results of the 2005 your first college year (yfcy) survey: Spotlight on student adjustment & satisfaction. Presented at the 25th Annual Conference on the First Year Experience. Atlanta, GA. Saenz, V. & Wolf, D. (2006). Your first college year survey: Highlights from the 2005 yfcy. Essay for the First-Year Assessment Listserv. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. (http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/assessment/essays/Saenz-2.16.06.html) Wolf, D. (2003, August).The impact of involvement in different types of student organizations on college students' leadership development. Presented at the Northwestern University Summer Research Opportunity Program Symposium. Evanston, IL. Honors and awards: 2004-2005: Graduate Student Opportunity Fellowship University of California, Los Angeles 2003: Honorable Mention, Summer Research Opportunity Program Northwestern University, Evanston, IL |
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