cristina zepeda is now an assistant professor of psychology and human development at vanderbilt university

1. How did you become interested in cognitive science/psychology?

Initially, I was an electrical engineer major. I was not a fan, but my parents wanted me to be an engineer because I was really good at math/science. Thankfully, everything changed for the better after I took EDS115 Cognitive Development in Education at UCSD. I loved that course and I finally felt at home. It was then that I decided to pursue a Psychology major with an Education minor. Then I started reaching out to professors to do research and applied to become a MARC scholar (Minority Access to Research Careers, now called Maximizing Access to Research Careers) so that I could offer my own funding to potential faculty matches. At that time, I wasn’t quite sure what my career plans would be because no one had ever talked about a research career or PhD in psychology, but then I learned about the Hot Metal Bridge postbac program in Pittsburgh. I applied and was accepted into the program. It was hard to move away from home for the first time, but I really enjoyed that experience and everything that I learned from my faculty mentor and labmates. Then I decided to apply PhD programs, mostly in Texas and California to be closer to home. But in the end, I was already sold on continuing with my lab in Pittsburgh. The hardest part of grad school was learning to adjust and finding community. I found my community, much in part of becoming the assistant director of the Hot Metal Bridge Program.

2. What is the focus of your research?

My research focuses on understanding how people regulate their learning and pinpointing ways to support them in using effective self-regulatory processes. In particular, I focus on the metacognitive and motivational processes at play. For example, I am currently working with a dual enrollment program to evaluate how students use cognitive learning strategies and motivational regulation strategies and their relation of that use to course performance. The goal is to understand how students use these strategies in order to inform future intervention work supporting students to regulate their learning and acquire more robust knowledge. More recently, I’ve also started to focus on how to make these learning supports more equitable by examining how different barriers that students experience impact their use of regulatory processes.

3. What aspects of your work do people get really excited about?

People are excited by discovering ways to motivate learners and the applied work side of my research in working with schools/programs and teachers. The more applied, often the messier it can be, but there are so many valuable and grounded lessons you can learn from working in the field with students and teachers.

4. Where do you see your research going over the next few years?

I’d love to do more intervention work in schools with teachers. I think the use of technology is the way to go and the pandemic has opened willingness to explore this option.

5. Do you see yourself in industry or academics moving forward?

I’m dedicated to academia. I love doing research, collaborating across fields, working with graduate and undergraduate students, and being paid to think and improve. I also like the flexibility that it has given me and my family.

6. What’s it like being a person of color in cognitive science?

It’s definitely challenging. Sometimes I am still blown away by the things people say or the policies that serve as barriers. And in those spaces, I’ve had to learn how to speak up and politely disagree to advocate for changes or at a minimum increase awareness. This doesn’t happen automatically and often I figure out a plan after the fact, but I am getting better at it. For example, when I was the assistant director for the postbac program for 4 cohorts I experienced not only the challenges that I faced in academia, but also those from my peers. That meant that sometimes some of those challenges were a product of my colleagues. Here is where my community came into play in navigating those spaces and giving me the support and opportunities to make the space more inclusive and equitable.

7. Any advice for early career researchers of color?

I think following your intuition and believing in yourself have worked well for me, but sometimes that might be difficult and so I always recommend finding or creating your village of supporters. Having a community to support you is also so incredibly valuable. It is hard to feel comfortable opening up to new people but when you find your community try to fully embrace it, it is amazing what it can do.

8. What changes have you noticed in your field or the field more generally?

This past year I have seen much more openness and purposeful conversations around diversity and inclusion. I mean, just look at the job market this year. Not only are places looking for scholars to do DEI research but almost every place is asking for DEI statements, which maybe one or two job ads asked for in the past. These increases are not only important for the field, but also for the applied fields we study, especially as there has also been an increase in the valuing of applied work in educational contexts. Also this year, I was pleasantly surprised to see Psychonomics opening access for postdocs and students to give talks and hope they continue to provide that access that can be critical for early career researchers.

9. Do you see spaces where diversity will change how/what questions cognitive psychology/cog Science is asking?

I loved the SPARK Society’s panel discussion about how to make a more inclusive lab. These things make a big difference to students and lab members. The hard part is not everyone attends these spaces. I worry people will leave the field because they do not feel their efforts are making a difference, but they are making a difference and I appreciate them.

10. How do you protect your time?

For me to protect my time, means managing which commitments I agree to. I enjoy being a part of many different projects and committees which also means I had to learn how to say no to some things so I could say yes to the things that I want to do (the things that help me meet my career and life plans). I have this list I really like that has several nice ways of saying no. For example, “Thank you for the offer and I really appreciate it, but I am busy at this time.” I find it comforting to refer to that list and it is a healthy reminder that it is okay to protect your time.