Delaram Totonchi
Research Scientist
Delaram (Dela) Totonchi is a Research Scientist at Motivate Lab, with a background in educational and social psychology. Her scholarship reflects an intersection of three main interests: (a) understanding how students' beliefs in their abilities to learn affect their achievement and persistence; (b) examining the socio-cultural and contextual factors that impact the well-being and academic adjustment of students from traditionally underrepresented groups; and, (c) improving measurement practices in educational and social psychology. In her current role, Dela supports Motivate Lab's efforts to implement and customize motivational interventions designed to address gender, race, and socioeconomic opportunity gaps.
Dela earned her B.S. in Psychology from Allameh Tabataba'i University in Tehran, Iran. Upon moving to the U.S., she attained her M.S. in Experimental Psychology and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Program Evaluation from Old Dominion University.
Dela is an immigrant from the Middle East. She enjoys sharing her childhood stories about going to school in urban Tehran. As a student who transitioned to graduate school in the U.S., she understands the role positive academic and personal identity-based experiences play in promoting underrepresented students’ sense of belonging, motivation, and academic success.