The GSP Doctoral Fellowship brings Ph.D. candidates pursuing independent, self-directed research on economic and social problems affecting low-income Americans to our New York City, Oakland, CA, and Washington, DC, offices.
Applications for the summer 2023 doctoral fellowship are now closed.
Questions?
Contact [email protected]
What It’s Like to Be a Doctoral Fellow at MDRC
In this two-minute video, Gabrielle Smith Finnie, a doctoral candidate at Old Dominion University, recounts her summer as a 2023 Gueron Doctoral Fellow. She is studying the experiences of Black justice-involved individuals pursuing higher education after justice involvement.
2023 Doctoral Fellows

Gabrielle Smith Finnie is a doctoral candidate at Old Dominion University, where she is studying the experiences of Black justice-involved individuals pursuing higher education after justice involvement. Gabrielle has an M.S. in higher education and administration from Florida International University and experience in educational and justice-related settings. She has also served as a correctional education intern for the Virginia Department of Corrections and as a research intern for the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Gabrielle is very passionate about making radical change in higher education and beyond.

Pierre Lucien is a DPhil Candidate at the University of Oxford studying the effects of college and career pathways in secondary schools on educational attainment for students historically underrepresented in higher education. Pierre is also a policy analyst at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Doctoral Teaching Fellow for Introduction to Quantitative Methods and Intermediate Quantitative Methods courses at the Oxford Education Department, and a Junior Dean at St. John’s College, Oxford. Previously, Pierre was a research analyst at Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research. Pierre earned master’s degrees from Brown University and the Ohio State University and a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University in Queens, NY.
Previous Doctoral Fellows
2019
Brittany Fox-Williams
2018
Bailey Brown
Nidia Ruedas-Gracia
2017
Linsey Edwards
Tommy Wu
2016
Raul Chavez
Rosalia Zarate
2015
Mariana Horta-Campos
2014
Maria “Toni” Castro-Cosio
Megan Madison
2013
Nancy Acevedo-Gil
Justina Kamiel Grayman
2012
Jovonne Bickerstaff
Delia Kimbrel
Awilda Rodriguez
2011
Micaela Mercado
Miya Warner
2010
Cecilia Speroni
Christian Villenas
2009
Daniella Pineda
Adriana Villavicencio