Angie Choi, a doctoral student in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s higher education program, has been accepted by competitive application to the 2013 Association for the Study of Higher Education Graduate Student Policy Seminar.

The seminar will provide an opportunity for Choi to interact with researchers and policymakers who are knowledgeable about critical public policy issues in higher education, as well as interact with graduate students from across the nation who share similar interests.

The ASHE seminar will be held Nov. 14 to 16 in St. Louis.

Choi’s research agenda focuses on understanding student pathways from science and engineering academic programs into labor force entry, and the implications for national higher education public policy.

“I hope to further understand policy communities and the potential for my research to inform policy-making,” Choi said. “I also look forward to engaging in policy discussions with graduate students from other universities.”

To be eligible to attend the seminar, Choi had to first be nominated by UALR higher education program faculty and then submit an application and abstract to the ASHE Graduate Student Policy Seminar.

She became interested in disciplinary paradigms after reading research for a course taught by Dr. Jim Vander Putten, an associate professor of higher education.

This summer, she attended the National Data Institute, which was jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Center for Education Statistics. While there, Choi spoke with project officers for NSF data sets, and these conversations led to her current focus.

Choi moved from California to Mabelvale, Ark., in 2008 to be closer to family. She said she chose the UALR doctorate in higher education program because her supervisor, a graduate of the program, had encouraged her to consider it.

“I also wanted to make a more stable life for myself by advancing professionally,” she said.