Ph.D. in Education, 2013
School of Education
Email: nsafavia@uci.edu
Biography
Dr. Safavian’s research applies the motivation lens of expectancy-value theory to approach issues of motivation and achievement in underrepresented communities. Additionally, she studies factors that optimize opportunities in mathematics and science.
Dr. Safavian received her Ph.D. in Education in December 2013 with an emphasis in Learning, Cognition, and Development (LCD). Her dissertation is titled Examining the Impact of Motivation on Achievement and Course-Taking Behavior of Low-Income Minority Youth.
Following receipt of her degree, Dr. Safavian accepted a position with Project Tomorrow as a Research Analyst and subsequently joined the research team of UCI School of Education Distinguished Professor Jacquelynne Eccles as a Postdoctoral Fellow. In this position she is exploring longitudinal associations between motivation in adolescence and post-secondary STEM-aspirations and career attainment.
Ms. Safavian was a member of the inaugural class of doctoral students in the School of Education at UC Irvine. As a first generation American, her experiences inspired her to study cultural differences in motivational processes among immigrant and ethnic minority youth. While a doctoral student, she served as project manager for the California Motivation Project (PI: AnneMarie Conley), where she studied the role of motivation in improving students’ proficiency in mathematics and the impact of teachers’ motivation on student achievement. In 2012 she was selected as a UC Irvine Chancellor’s Club Fund for Excellence Dissertation Distinguished Fellow.
Ms. Safavian holds a M.A. in Education from UC Irvine, and a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA.
Awards
- 2012 UC Irvine Chancellor’s Club Fund for Excellence Dissertation Distinguished Fellow
- 2012 UC Irvine Public Impact Dissertation Fellowship Honorable Mention and Award
Presentations
Johnson, M. & Safavian, N. (2014, April). Exploring college-aged students’ perceived cost values for education. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA
Safavian, N., Conley, A., & Karabenick, S. (2013, April). Examining mathematics cost value among middle school youth. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association Conference. San Francisco, CA.
Sheppard, A., Safavian, N., Albarran, A. S., & Conley, A. (2012, April). A social network analysis of communication patterns within professional learning communities. Paper submitted to the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Karabenick, S., Conley, A., Maher, M., & Safavian, N. (2012, January). MSP-MAP II: Teacher Motivation in Professional Development. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Math Science Partnership Learning Network Conference. Washington D.C.
Safavian, N., Chang, A., Conley, A., & Karabenick, S. (2011, August). Understanding teacher expectancy and value to teach mathematics. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association Conference. Washington D.C.
Sheppard, A., Safavian, N., Rutherford, T., Albarran, A. S., & Conley, A. (2011, April). A social network analysis of teachers’ professional learning communities. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association Conference. New Orleans, LA.
Safavian, N., & Conley, A. (2010, April). Middle school expectancy for success and task values as predictors of short and long term achievement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association Conference. Denver, CO.
Safavian, N. (2010, February). Motivational predictors of math achievement in early adolescence. Poster presented at the 2010 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) “Early Childhood through Higher Education” Summit at the University of California, Irvine.
Safavian, N., & Conley, A. (2009, April). Ethnic identity and academic efficacy in Black and White middle school students. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association Conference. San Diego, CA.