Shengjie Lin, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Education & Human Sciences, has received an early career grant from the American Psychological Association’s Division 15. The funding will support his research into how parents’ behaviors, rather than just beliefs, influence children’s motivation and achievement in mathematics.
Lin’s interest in educational psychology began with personal experience. He recalled, “Looking back, I now recognize that what they modeled was growth mindset behavior. At the time, I didn’t know the term — but their encouragement to keep trying with new strategies helped me reframe how I thought about myself as a learner. That experience shaped my passion for educational psychology.”
Much existing research on growth versus fixed mindsets focuses on beliefs about intelligence. Lin aims to shift attention to observable behaviors and their role in communicating these mindsets. “Students do not live in isolation. They are surrounded by socializers — parents, teachers, siblings, peers,” Lin explained. “I want to understand how parents’ behaviors communicate their mindset beliefs, and how those behaviors can help adolescents persist through academic challenges.”
His upcoming study will partner with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS). The initial phase includes focus groups with parents to identify actions that reflect mindset beliefs. Lin also plans to create a scale for researchers to measure these behaviors in future studies.
Lin acknowledged UNM’s support as crucial during his pursuit of the competitive grant. “From the very beginning, I felt supported here,” Lin said. “Dr. Cari Hushman helped me explore research opportunities at UNM, take practical steps and connected me with staff who guided me through the grant application process. Dr. Jay Parkes reminded me that pursuing grants is a process, which gave me the encouragement to keep going.”
College leadership underscored this culture of support. Jay Parkes, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean for Student Success, stated: “Dr. Lin’s work exemplifies the kind of innovation we want to foster in our faculty. By investigating the role of families and communities in shaping learning mindsets, his research has the potential to impact both scholarship and practice in New Mexico and beyond.” Carolyn (Cari) Hushman, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Distance Education added: “At COEHS, we are deeply committed to supporting early-career faculty so they can pursue bold, community-focused research. Dr. Lin’s project speaks to our values of equity and access, and we are proud to see him receive national recognition from APA.”
Lin hopes his findings will help families encourage persistence and effective strategies among students facing math challenges—an area he believes is critical for increasing STEM participation in New Mexico schools.
“Math is often treated as a gatekeeper subject,” Lin said. “I want to show how parents and families can make a difference by encouraging effort, strategy, and persistence — helping students see themselves not as ‘math people’ or ‘not math people,’ but as learners who can grow.”
Lin holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and conducted postdoctoral work at Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence.
The collaboration between APS and COEHS aims not only to advance student success within APS but also provides opportunities for COEHS faculty like Lin to contribute research expertise toward improving K–12 education across Albuquerque.
