Elizabeth Lawner, PhD
Senior Director, Research
Elizabeth K. Lawner, PhD is the Senior Director of Research at ACUE. Dr. Lawner graduated cum laude from Duke University, where she earned her BA in psychology. She holds an MA and PhD in social psychology and a certificate in quantitative research methods, all from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Lawner’s primary research interest has been the recruitment and retention of women in science, technology, engineering, and math, particularly focused on higher education. Her work in this area on student reactions to performance feedback and role models led her to consider how instructors could play a part in increasing equity in education , an interest that brought her to ACUE in 2018. Dr. Lawner’s research has been published in Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Social Psychology of Education, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Social Science & Medicine, and Afterschool Matters, and she has presented at conferences for the American Educational Research Association, Association for the Study of Higher Education, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Association for Psychological Science, and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She has also co-authored several books, including a research-based book for parents, Breaking Through! Helping Girls Succeed in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, which received the 2017 Book of the Year Award, parent/caregiver category, from the National Association for Gifted Children.
