Doctoral Student Jieun Lee (she/her) is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia’s Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education. She joined the Institute as a recipient of the Louise McBee Scholar Award and Presidential Graduate Fellowship. Her research examines how structurally marginalized students navigate higher education within structural constraints and acts of resistance that shape their trajectories. She also investigates the politics of university–community engagement and service learning, where institutional partnerships with marginalized communities often reproduce hierarchical and paternalistic dynamics. Through this work, she seeks to understand how such partnerships might be re-imagined to reflect principles of collective empowerment. Drawing on her experiences navigating educational systems in South Korea, the Philippines, and the United States, Jieun brings a liberation-centered perspective to questions of college access, student agency, and university–community relationships. Her work is grounded in qualitative research and guided by a commitment to advancing equity and solidarity in higher education. Prior to joining the Institute, Jieun earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Hanyang University in South Korea, where she began her professional journey as a student affairs specialist. She earned a Master of Education, along with a Graduate Certificate in Education for Social Justice, from Iowa State University.
