Even when she was a little girl, Amy Hayes always knew she wanted to be the world’s first Astronaut Princess Physicist when she grew up.  Little did she know, when she got to college to pursue her life-long dreams, one flippant remark was going to change her life. What kind of comment could possibly impact us in such a dramatic way? Amy will share per personal story of the unexpected shift in trajectory that led her to become the researcher and Developmental Psychologist that she is today. She will talk about her own personal lessons learned along the way and share research insights into topics such as gender representation in different fields of industry and the importance of same-gender role models and leaders.

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Amy has a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.  She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Texas at Tyler. Her research focuses on how social groups (like gender, race, religion, etc.) and your membership in these groups can affect educational and occupational outcomes (e.g., occupational goals, academic interests, school performance, career development) throughout the lifespan.