We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Layla Dang to the lab as a postdoctoral research associate! Layla is working in both the WAVE Lab and the MSU Careers and Workforce Science Research Group, and is funded by the Strada Education Foundation.

Layla earned her PhD in social psychology from Purdue University in 2024, where her research broadly examined psychological processes that hinder social change and social equity. During her doctoral studies, Layla worked as a graduate research assistant at Purdue’s Office of Undergraduate Research. There, she evaluated undergraduate research programs and studied how research teams adapted to virtual and hybrid environments. This work fueled her current interest in conducting research with tangible impacts on educational and work policies and programs, with an emphasis on questions relevant to the future of work.