Maithreyi Gopalan

Maithreyi Gopalan is an Assistant Professor in the Education Policy Studies Department at The Pennsylvania State University, effective August 2018. She holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, with a doctoral minor in Psychological and Brain Sciences. Previously, she served as an Associate Professor at the University of Oregon's College of Education. Her work focuses on addressing racial and socioeconomic disparities in non-cognitive student outcomes through interdisciplinary research integrating psychological insights with educational policy analysis.

Education:

• Ph.D., Public Affairs, Indiana University, 2018
• M.A., Economics, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, India, 2004
• B.A., Economics, University of Madras, Chennai, India, 2002

Research Interests: Dr. Gopalan investigates disparities in non-cognitive educational outcomes across pre-kindergarten to college, using quasi-experimental and field experimental methods. Her research explores interventions to reduce inequality in disciplinary practices, academic persistence, and social belonging among marginalized student groups.

Grants & Funding: Her work has been supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation.

Teaching Experience:

• Instructor of Record for courses in statistical modeling, macroeconomics, and research methods
• Teaching Assistant for doctoral-level statistics/econometrics courses