Bio

Lena Shi is an incoming Assistant Professor of Education Policy and Evaluation at UC Irvine (starting Fall 2024). 

Her research identifies contributors to—and solutions for—educational inequality. Lena employs methods including field experiments, quasi-experimental approaches using large-scale datasets, and surveys to study policies and factors that affect educational attainment, economic mobility, college application and enrollment patterns, and education finance.

Lena's research is supported by external funders including AERA / the National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, J-PAL North America, and the Spencer Foundation. In 2021, the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) awarded Lena the New Scholar Award.

Lena is a former White House Policy Advisor and U.S. Department of Education Presidential Management Fellow. Lena completed her Ph.D. from Harvard in May 2023. 

Click here to view CV

Click here to visit my personal website