Yuko Okado, Ph.D.

Dr. Okado received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Penn State University. She currently investigates psychological and behavioral factors that promote STEM persistence, especially in college students studying psychological science and those from under-represented/underserved backgrounds.  As part of this work, Dr. Okado is developing an online intervention that scales up mentoring and facilitates students' career exploration using AI-based technologies.  Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and by the Department of Defense (DoD STEM).

Relevant project links:

Psychology Pathways Project (NSF CAREER Award #2237924)

CareerFair.ai: Increasing Connections to Fast-Growing STEM Careers (Department of Defense Award #HQ0034-20-1-0019)

Dr. Okado has secondary research interests in the psychosocial and academic adjustment of college/university students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevention of stress-related mental and physical illnesses through brief online interventions.

Her teaching interests include statistics and research methods, clinical psychology (child/adolescent/adult assessment and intervention), health and pediatric psychology, and positive psychology.  A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Okado is trained in both adult and child/adolescent assessment and treatment within community mental health and healthcare settings.  She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and a predoctoral internship at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. Prior to entering the field of psychology, Dr. Okado studied international relations and holds an M.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in international relations from Stanford University.

Lab website:

https://sites.google.com/fullerton.edu/okadolab/home