Bridging the Gap Between Social Psychology Research and a Real-World Empowering STEM Mentorship Model with Juezihan Wang

Hi! My name is Juezihan (Lucy) Wang, and I am a senior majoring in Psychology with double minors in Statistics and Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For the Fall 2026 semester, I am interning as a Research Scientist Intern at innovation Research & Training (iRT), a behavioral sciences research company dedicated to translational scientific studies that improve the well-being of youth, families, organizations, and communities.

Growing up in Hangzhou, China, and Singapore, I was first drawn to psychology because of the mental health stigma so commonly prevalent across Asia. Starting with AP Psychology in grade 10 and three independent research projects in high school, I decided to study at UNC-Chapel Hill. In my freshman year, I started to gain foundational research experience as an undergraduate research assistant in the Cohen Lab and Rodebaugh Lab. There, I administered behavioral and cognitive sessions, recruited and managed participants, and co-authored a manuscript on diversity disparities in the quality of cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder

As I continued exploring psychology, however, my interests gradually evolved from clinical therapy toward studying human interactions within social psychology and organizational behavior. In my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant for Organizational Behavior (OB) professors at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. Through investigating leader-follower dynamics, social perception, and intergroup stereotyping and collaborating with multiple faculty across institutions, I learned how psychological principles operate dynamically within organizational structures. These experiences reshaped my academic trajectory, leading me to graduate a year early and apply to OB PhD programs for the 2027 cycle.

As I transitioned into organizational behavior, one thing I value deeply is the real-world application of research rather than remaining strictly within abstract theoretical frameworks. This desire led me to apply for the Karen M. Gil Internship Program and join iRT. Working alongside my mentors, Dr. Katie Stump and Dr. Rebecca Stelter, I am researching key components of mentoring relationships—between adult mentors and middle-school-aged youth mentees—such as trust, relational boundaries, fostering STEM identity belonging, motivations, and recognizing microaggressions against racial and gender minorities. Our goal is to translate these scientific insights directly into developing a comprehensive, 3-hour virtual evidence-based training program designed to optimize mentorship outcomes.

Earlier this semester, my projects have involved providing feedback and revising existing training websites to optimize user experience (UX) design. I also assisted in the qualitative coding of 7 interviews with informal STEM education programs, as well as web-scraped and coded the official websites of 100+ mentoring organizations to catalog features like program length, frequency, mentor demographics, and training structures. These efforts provide crucial insights for the product's Stage 2 proposal and help build a targeted outreach list of potential partner organizations.

This internship has given me a profound appreciation for how rigorous psychological research can be effectively translated into actionable tools that empower youth and communities. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with the exceptional team at iRT, as well as for the guidance and support of the Karen M. Gil Internship Program through Dr. Steven Buzinski and Richie Gray. I look forward to continuing my journey at the intersection of behavioral research and real-world organizational impact!