Scholars collaborate with mentors at NORC on a research project and participate in networking and a professional learning series.
NORC at the University of Chicago has selected six multitalented researchers for our 2025 Equity Scholars Program. From January through August, these scholars will collaborate with and be mentored by NORC experts to advance inclusive and equitable research, including culturally responsive research methods.
The Equity Scholars Program offers awards to scholars across the United States to conduct exemplary social science research. Scholar awardees come from a wide range of multidisciplinary fields and gain enhanced research skills, professional connections, and a deeper understanding of inclusive and equitable research methods. Equity Scholars collaborate with NORC scientists with expertise in designing and conducting rigorous, nonpartisan, inclusive research. Scholars also participate in a virtual networking and professional learning series.
The 2025 cohort will conduct cutting-edge research projects using NORC's comprehensive datasets and the AmeriSpeak® Amplify AAPI panel, contributing to NORC's mission of generating rigorous, evidence-based research, including:
- Examining social support systems in aging populations and home-based childcare using the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) and the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) 2029 Home-based Care Dataset
- Investigate educational equity through the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)
- Analyze vaccination patterns in Latinx communities using National Immunization Survey data
- Conduct research using NORC's AmeriSpeak® Amplify AAPI panel to study anti-Asian harassment measurements and health outcomes in AANHPI communities
The program is led by NORC’s Center on Equity Research.
Meet the 2025 NORC Equity Scholars
Jailine Aguirre, MS
Senior Research Associate, Economics, Justice & Society, NORC
Aguirre’s current research explores the experiences of historically marginalized people. She’s studying how immigrant-origin families within the United States access, exchange, and use resources such as social safety net programs and social support to support family well-being.
As an Equity Scholar, Aguirre will use the NSECE 2019 home-based care dataset to examine how the intersecting identities and regional locations of home-based caregivers influence their provision of formal and informal social support to the families they serve.
Aguirre is most looking forward to receiving revered and inclusive mentorship from NORC experts on best practices for conducting rigorous, equity-centered, and evidence-based research.
Elc Estrera, PhD
Director, Data, Research & Accountability, Wake County (N.C.) Public School System
Working in one of the largest school districts in the United States, Estrera guides district leadership to leverage research and data to make evidence-based decisions that promote equity.
As an Equity Scholar, Estrera will analyze data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and study how principals influence student outcomes. He will explore whether parent-family engagement strategies vary by principal demographic characteristics such as race and ethnicity.
Estrera looks forward to learning from NORC’s experts, specifically how to conduct inclusive and equitable research. Estrera’s parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1975. He is an American-born “elder millennial.”
Wen Guan, MA
PhD Student, University of California, Davis
Guan is a mixed-methods researcher studying reentry and recidivism, homelessness, formerly incarcerated populations, hate crimes, and organizations. Her core empirical and theoretical interest is in the coping mechanisms of marginalized populations.
As an Equity Scholar, Guan will use Amplify AAPI data to conduct research on what is needed to promote community safety for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities across the United States. She will assess commonly used measures of hate crime and develop community-based measures for crime prevention and non-carceral resolutions.
Guan is excited about the program’s mentorship and scholarship and looks forward to building collaboration and gaining research experience from everyone.
ShuXian (Jenny) Mai, MA
PhD Student in Health Communication, Rutgers University, and Chinese American Mental Health Outreach Program Coordinator, National Alliance on Mental Illness–New Jersey
Mai’s research focuses on how cultural determinants influence health decision-making processes in communicating mental illnesses and their impacts on health outcomes. Her work is informed by her lived experiences navigating socioeconomic and health care barriers with her immigrant parents.
As an Equity Scholar, Mai will use Amplify AAPI data to study how social support and collective resilience relate to psychological health outcomes and how these associations can be buffers against stressors.
She looks forward to collaborating and connecting with the mentors from the Equity Scholars Program and is eager to refine her research skills to support Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander voices and outcomes that advance health equity.
Skky Martin, PhD
Research Methodologist, Methodology & Quantitative Social Sciences, NORC
Martin’s research focuses on studying and advancing mental health and health equity.
As an Equity Scholar, Martin will use Round 3 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) dataset to explore how social support of older adults diagnosed with cancer is associated with positive mental health. With the U.S. population aging at an unprecedented rate, Martin says it’s imperative to study how social support is affecting older Americans’ health.
The Equity Scholars Program will allow her to leverage her expertise in health equity research by conducting rigorous, independent, inclusive and equitable research on this growing U.S. population.
Alejandro Pocoroba, MS
Sociologist
Pocoroba has worked at research centers across Latin America, conducted fieldwork on military bases, and interviewed members of Mexico’s self-defense group and relatives of people deprived of liberty.
Pocoroba’s equity research focuses on the effects of institutionalized state violence on vulnerable groups. He’s interested in examining the Latino community's relationship with U.S. public institutions.
As an Equity Scholar, Pocoroba will use National Immunization Surveys data to examine how data collection tools are designed and evaluate their effectiveness in reaching underrepresented populations. He aims to increase the quality of information collected from underrepresented communities.
Pocoroba looks forward to refining his research skills by working alongside NORC researchers.
