Whitney McCoy Hudson

Whitney N. McCoy Hudson, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist at Duke University’s Center for Child and Family Policy. Her community-engaged scholarship sits at the intersection of educational psychology and STEM education. Her research examines how youth develop STEM identities, belonging, and technological agency through participation in school, family, and community learning environments. Drawing on qualitative and mixed methods approaches, she studies mentoring, intergenerational learning, and STEM ecosystems that support engagement, belonging, and persistence in STEM pathways.

Dr. McCoy Hudson is Co-Director of the L.I.F.T. (Learning Innovations and Future Technologies) Lab, an interdisciplinary research collective that designs and studies learning experiences integrating engineering, computing, creative design, and emerging technologies for youth and families. Through partnerships with schools, community organizations, and informal learning environments, L.I.F.T. Lab initiatives have engaged more than 2,000 youth, caregivers, educators, and community members across North Carolina and beyond.

At Duke, Dr. McCoy Hudson leads and collaborates on interdisciplinary research focused on youth development, educational experiences, community-based learning, and research-practice partnerships. Her current projects include Voices in the Code, which examines youth-centered approaches to the design of AI-powered mental health tools; a Spencer Foundation Research-Practice Partnership with Durham Public Schools focused on understanding how student assignment policies, school boundaries, parental choice, and magnet programs shape educational opportunities across the district; and Dream B.I.G. (Boosting Innovation for Girls), a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation-supported study examining how community-based STEM programs support identity development, belonging, and future STEM pathways. She also contributes to ITTI Care 2.0, a project focused on trauma-informed care and workforce well-being in early childhood education settings.

Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. Her scholarship has appeared in Contemporary Educational Psychology, Teachers College Record, Journal of Literacy Research, Race Ethnicity and Education, and other leading journals. She received the Samuel DuBois Cook Society Staff Award at Duke University in recognition of her contributions to scholarship, mentorship, and community engagement.

Prior to joining Duke, Dr. McCoy Hudson was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in STEM Education at the University of Virginia and taught elementary school in Mecklenburg and Guilford Counties for six years. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Winston-Salem State University, an M.A.T. from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Learning Sciences with a concentration in Educational Psychology from North Carolina State University.