DeLeon Gray is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. Dr. Gray also holds an appointment as Mentor Faculty in the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has previously held appointments at the Association for Psychological Science, the American Institutes for Research, and the National Institutes of Health. His research focuses on the ways in which students’ achievement motivation and in-school behavior may be traced back to interpretations of their own social encounters. His research program has been recognized by the receipt of prestigious honors including the Research on Socially and Economically Underrepresented Populations Award (RiSE-UP) from the Association for Psychological Science, and dissertation fellowships from the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation and the American Education Research Association (AERA). Most recently, he received the AERA Division E 2013 Outstanding Dissertation Award in Human Development and the 2013 Loadman Outstanding Dissertation Award in Educational Psychology and Philosophy from The Ohio State University. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) (B.A., Interdisciplinary Studies) and The Ohio State University (M.A., Quantitative Research, Evaluation, and Measurement; Ph.D., Educational Psychology). His work appears in Contemporary Educational Psychology, Journal of Research on Adolescence, and Educational Psychology Review, and other peer-reviewed outlets.
Dr. Gray’s research program examines how adolescents and emerging adults perceive and interpret their social encounters in achievement contexts, and whether these mental representations account for their achievement beliefs and behaviors. Currently, his research program is comprised of two components. The first component includes investigations highlighting the role of social identity processes in achievement contexts, particularly in terms of students’ strivings to “stand out” and “fit in” within their peer circles. The second component of Dr. Gray’s research focuses on understanding students’ judgments about socializers (e.g., teachers, parents, and mentors), and students’ interpretations of the messages that these socializers convey about scholastic achievement. Dr. Gray’s research program ultimately will serve as a platform for collaborating with practicing teachers and administrators on initiatives that encourage students to make engaging in scholastic activities a priority.
Representative Publications:
Gray, D. L. (2014). Understanding STEM-focused high school students’ perceptions of task importance: The role of “standing out” and “fitting in” in mathematics class. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39, 29-41.
Turner, J. C., Gray, D. L., Anderman, L. H., Dawson, H. S., & Anderman, E. M. (2013). Getting to know my teacher: Does the relation between perceived mastery goal structures and perceived teacher support change across the school year? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38, 316-327.