Wright, Galaxina Gabriella Dickey

Positions

Assistant Professor, Counseling, Recreation and School Psychology , College of Arts, Sciences & Education

gawright@fiu.edu

https://www.linkedin.com/in/galaxinawright/

biography

Dr. Galaxina G. Wright is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education whose research, teaching, and professional work intersect across career development, mental health counseling, counselor education, and equity. Her scholarship examines how social, systemic, and contextual factors influence career development and access to educational and employment opportunities, particularly among historically marginalized and underserved populations.

Dr. Wright has a background in clinical mental health counseling and school-based mental health, which informs her applied approach to research, teaching, and intervention development. Her professional experience includes working with children, adolescents, families, and adults and addressing mental health, educational, and career-related concerns across diverse settings. This practice background contributes to her interest in understanding individuals within the broader social, educational, and systemic contexts that shape their development and career trajectories.

Her research activities include qualitative and applied research, intervention development and evaluation, community-engaged research, and research involving counselors-in-training, career development, historically marginalized populations (i.e., fostered youth) and counseling professionals. She has experience developing research protocols, conducting qualitative interviews and focus groups, analyzing qualitative data, developing career interventions, mentoring student researchers, collaborating with community and educational partners, preparing manuscripts and conference presentations, and pursuing external research funding.

Dr. Wright is particularly interested in interdisciplinary research that connects counseling and career development with education, psychology, public health, social work, workforce development, and technology. She welcomes collaborations involving grant development, intervention research, program evaluation, community-engaged research, and multi-method research. She is particularly interested in collaborating with researchers who bring expertise in quantitative, mixed-methods, longitudinal, advanced statistical, and psychometric methodologies to complement her substantive and qualitative research expertise.

research interests

Dr. Wright's research agenda focuses on career development, career access, mental health, and career equity, with particular attention to historically marginalized and underserved populations. Her work examines how individual, social, educational, and systemic factors shape career development, career decision-making, educational access, employment, and mental health.

Her primary research interests include:
- Career Development and Career Equity: Career barriers, career decision-making, career decision self-efficacy, career access, and equitable educational and employment opportunities.
- Job Search and Employment: Job search behaviors, job search interventions, employment barriers, workforce preparation, and interventions designed to improve employment outcomes.
- Career Development and Mental Health: The intersection of mental health and career development and the ways psychological, social, and contextual factors influence career outcomes.
- Trauma and Career Development: The impact of trauma and adverse experiences on career development and the development of trauma-informed career counseling and interventions.
- School-Based Mental Health and Career Development: The intersection of mental health, educational experiences, and career development among children, adolescents, and emerging adults, including prevention and intervention within school and educational settings.
- Counselor Education and Counselor Development: Counselors-in-training, professional development, career development among counseling students, counselor preparation, and professional identity development.
- Intervention Development and Evaluation: Development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-informed career and counseling interventions for underserved populations.
- Foster Youth and Young Adults: Career development, educational and workforce preparation, career access, and interventions supporting foster youth and other transition-age populations.

Dr. Wright's research activities span qualitative inquiry, intervention research, community-engaged research, program evaluation, and applied research with students, counseling professionals, and community populations. She is particularly interested in interdisciplinary collaborations incorporating quantitative, mixed-methods, longitudinal, statistical, and psychometric approaches.