Mica Estrada, PhD
Professor
Institute for Health & Aging
School of Nursing

Her research program focuses on social influence, including the study of identity, values, forgiveness, well-being, and integrative education. Currently she is engaged in several longitudinal studies, which involve the implementation and assessment of interventions aimed to increase underrepresented minority student persistence in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical careers (funded by NIH, NSF, and HHMI). With the NSF Climate Change Education grant, she directed an interdisciplinary team, to provide learning opportunities to San Diego leaders about the changing climate. She continues to advise on the Climate Stewards project.

Dr. Estrada’s scholarly work has had two areas of emphasis. First, her work is theory driven. Specifically, she assess how educational interventions result in greater integration into a community and increased engagement in the normative behaviors of that community. She utilizes the Tripartite Integration Model of Social Influence (TIMSI; Estrada et al., 2011, 2018) to inform the design of educational interventions as well as form the basis of evaluation and research used to assess if and why educational interventions work (or do not work). Second, Dr. Estrada’s work focuses on ethnic populations that are historically underrepresented in higher education, most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and are providing diverse and creative solutions to the pressing challenges of our day. As a leading scholar on issues of diversity and inclusion, she is currently serving on a National Research Council Roundtable. She also was recently selected by Howard Hughes Medical Institute to be a Facilitator-Scholar, as part of a cohort who will assume curricular design and facilitation of mentorship skills development courses for HHMI scientists.

On a personal note, Dr. Estrada has three grown children, indulges in the consideration of mystical ideas and enjoys life with her sweetheart, Chaplain Carl Magruder, in the Bay Area.

• A Longitudinal Study of How Quality Mentorship and Research Experience Integrate Underrepresented Minorities into STEM Careers.
  CBE life sciences education 2018 Estrada M, Hernandez PR, Schultz PW
• 'Speaking Truth' Protects Underrepresented Minorities' Intellectual Performance and Safety in STEM.
  Education sciences 2017 Ben-Zeev A, Paluy Y, Milless KL, Goldstein EJ, Wallace L, Márquez-Magaña L, Bibbins-Domingo K, Estrada M
• The use of theory in applied social psychology.
  Applied Social Psychology 2017 Mica Estrada, P. Wesley Schultz
• The Role of Social Influences on Pro-Environment Behaviors in the San Diego Region.
  Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 2017 Estrada M, Schultz PW, Silva-Send N, Boudrias MA
• Personalized Normative Feedback and the Moderating Role of Personal Norms.
  Environment and Behavior 2016 P. Wesley Schultz, Alyssa Messina, Giuseppe Tronu, Eleuterio F. Limas, Rupanwita Gupta, Mica Estrada
• Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM.
  CBE life sciences education 2016 Estrada M, Burnett M, Campbell AG, Campbell PB, Denetclaw WF, Gutiérrez CG, Hurtado S, John GH, Matsui J, McGee R, Okpodu CM, Robinson TJ, Summers MF, Werner-Washburne M, Zavala M
• Using in-home displays to provide smart meter feedback about household electricity consumption: A randomized control trial comparing kilowatts, cost, and social norms.
  Energy 2015 P. Wesley Schultz, Mica Estrada, Joseph Schmitt, Rebecca Sokoloski, Nilmini Silva-Send
• Engagement in a Community-Based Integral Practice Program Enhances Well-being.
  International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2014 Cassandra Vieten, Mica Estrada, Adam B. Cohen, Dean Radin, Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Arnaud Delorme
• Tailored Panel Management: A Theory-Based Approach to Building and Maintaining Participant Commitment to a Longitudinal Study.
  Evaluation review 2014 Estrada M, Woodcock A, Schultz PW
• Sustaining Optimal Motivation: A Longitudinal Analysis of Interventions to Broaden Participation of Underrepresented Students in STEM.
  Journal of educational psychology 2013 Hernandez PR, Schultz PW, Estrada M, Woodcock A, Chance RC
• The consequences of chronic stereotype threat: domain disidentification and abandonment.
  Journal of personality and social psychology 2012 Woodcock A, Hernandez PR, Estrada M, Schultz PW
• Patching the Pipeline: Reducing Educational Disparities in the Sciences Through Minority Training Programs.
  Educational evaluation and policy analysis 2011 Schultz PW, Hernandez PR, Woodcock A, Estrada M, Chance RC, Aguilar M, Serpe RT
• Toward a model of Towards a model of social influence that explains minority student integration into the scientific community
  Journal of Educational Psychology 2011 Estrada, M., Woodcock, A., Hernandez, P. R., & Schultz, P. W.