You can find Ivan’s working CV here.
Ivan’s research focuses, broadly, on investigating the social, contextual, and psychological factors that influence the identities, well-being, and motivation of students of color and students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. His research aims to advance equity and inclusion in higher education.
How do students of color and students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds make sense of their social identities in relation to academic contexts? How does this identity-related meaning-making process influence their identity-development, well-being, and academic motivation? These are research questions that Ivan investigates.
In one line of work, Ivan examines how the messages that students receive about their identity and background shape their academic experiences and outcomes. A second line of his research evaluates how students’ academic motivation and their behavior toward other students is affected by the way that students think about their socioeconomic future. In a third line of work, Ivan investigates the factors that promote, or undermine, student interest and persistence in science.
Published Journal Articles
Hernandez, I. A., Smith, J. L., Villodas, M. T., & Thoman, D. B. (2023). Creating an inclusive research lab with student onboarding materials. Nature Reviews Psychology.
Hernandez, I. A., Silverman, D. M., Rosario, R. J., & Destin, M. (2023). Concern about experiencing downward socioeconomic mobility generates precarious types of motivation among students of color. Social Psychology of Education.
Silverman, D. M., Rosario, R. J., Hernandez, I. A., & Destin, M. (2023). The ongoing development of strength-based approaches to people who hold marginalized identities. Personality and Social Psychology Review.
Silverman, D. M., Hernandez, I. A., & Destin, M. (2022). Educators’ beliefs about students’ socioeconomic backgrounds as an avenue for supporting motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. [Education Week]
Hernandez, I. A., Silverman, D. M., & Destin M. (2021). From deficit to benefit: Highlighting lower-SES students’ background-specific strengths increases their academic persistence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Book Chapters
Destin, M. & Hernandez, I. A. (2020). The pathways intervention as a model to design broader systems of equitable student support. In G. Walton & A. Crum (Eds.), Handbook of wise interventions: How social-psychology can help people change. Guilford Press.
Public Scholarship
Hernandez, I. A. (2021, December 8). Experiences are assets: Teachers can help marginalized students recognize their strengths. Education Week.
Hernandez, I. A. (2021, November 8). Unrecognized strengths: The power of being you. Forging a positive link between their identity and education can increase students’ sense of self-worth and lead to greater motivation in challenging environments. The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Hernandez, I. A. (2021, November 7). Unrecognized Strengths: The power of being you. Character Lab Tip of the Week.
Generous support for my research has been provided by:
Ivan A. Hernandez, Ph.D. 