Open Postdoctoral Position - The Stanford Center on Early Childhood

The Stanford Center on Early Childhood within the Graduate School of Education is seeking a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral scholar to join our research team and support a project funded by Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The primary research focus of this position is on understanding how families’ and educators’ experiences related to early care and education (ECE) access have been shifting since 2020, and how state-level child care assistance policies affected ECE access. Research activities of this project include secondary data analyses and manuscript development using existing national datasets from the RAPID Survey Project and the Childcare Development Fund (CCDF) Policies Database(link is external).

About SCEC

The Stanford Center on Early Childhood (SCEC)(link is external) leverages the current moment of revolutionary science and fosters deep omnidirectional collaboration across sectors, seeking to change the way that research in early childhood is conducted, communicated, and utilized, with the overarching goal that each and every child thrives from the start.

About RAPID

The RAPID Survey Project(link is external) is an ongoing project that uses brief, frequent, and online surveys to collect data from households with young children and ECE providers. Born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the RAPID survey platform subsequently evolved into a tool that gathers actionable data to advance science and inform data-driven, evidence-based early childhood policy, practice, and systems. To date, we have heard from more than 22,000 parents of young children and 12,000 child care providers across the country via RAPID national surveys since launching in April 2020. Additionally, RAPID has been sought out and implemented by a growing number of states, counties, and municipalities as an effective data-driven approach to redesign or improve their existing early childhood systems. RAPID seeks to understand and elevate the experiences and challenges facing families and to provide timely, actionable insights that inform policies and programs that help every child thrive from the start. 

The postdoctoral scholar will be advised by Dr. Philip Fisher, the Diana Chen Professor at GSE and the director of SCEC. There will be opportunities to collaborate with other faculty members, research scholars, postdoctoral fellows, or graduate students who are at SCEC or involved in RAPID surveys. This project constitutes a critical component of the New Ecology of Early Childhood(link is external) being developed at SCEC. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Conduct statistical analyses to support research activities proposed in the ACF project

  • Develop, write, and publish manuscripts to report on findings from the ACF project

  • Prepare and present research findings at internal meetings and scientific conferences

  • Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of researchers in developmental science, education, and social policies. Serve as an outstanding source to provide support on advanced statistical methods and data analysis.

  • Possibility to participate in other SCEC research projects and contribute to the preparation of future grant proposals.

Required Qualifications: 

  • Ph.D. (or expected completion by Spring or Summer 2025) in developmental psychology, education, social policy, quantitative methods for social science, or a related discipline.

  • Demonstrated strong interest and motivation in study of ECE and policy impacts.

  • Strong data analytical skills using advanced statistical methods (such as mixed effect models, multilevel modeling, structural equation models, longitudinal modeling, etc.) and proficiency in data analysis software (such as R, Mplus, SPSS).

  • Extensive experience interpreting research data and summarizing findings via written reports and oral presentations.

  • Strong record of publications (including first-author manuscripts) in peer-reviewed journals and excellent scientific writing skills.

  • Strong communication and collaborative skills, and ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment, with the ability to prioritize efficiently.

Preferred Experience:

  • Previous experience working with large, complicated surveys or conducting policy analysis.

  • Strong ability to work independently and collaboratively when preparing manuscripts for publication.

  • Topical expertise in ECE and supporting policies (such as child care subsidies via CCDF).

  • Knowledge or previous experience in analyzing text-based data (such as open-needed survey responses) using topic modeling techniques.

  • Previous mentor/management experience either during graduate training or previous employment.

Required Application Materials: 

  • A cover letter describing research interests and career goals (2 pages)

  • A detailed CV including a list of publications 

  • Contact information for two references

For more information click here.

Stanford is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Evelyn Rodarte