Jin Hyung Lim

Jin Hyung Lim is a PhD candidate in the School Psychology Program at the University of California, Berkeley School of Education. Jin Hyung’s research focuses on identifying risk and resilience factors that support the well-being of school members (e.g., students, families, teachers, and school leaders), especially those from minoritized backgrounds. More specifically, he is interested in social and emotional learning (SEL) and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) as resources and systems that foster resilience among school members. Through his work, he seeks to advance SEL and MTSS practices by integrating social justice, equity, and cultural humility, to better support individuals from marginalized backgrounds. Jin Hyung is also actively involved in research on school-based mental health services for Asian Americans, a group that has historically been marginalized from these services. His research is grounded in the bioecological model, the dual-factor model of mental health, and risk and resilience theory. Methodologically, he has expertise in meta-analysis, structural equation modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, latent profile analysis, and scale validation.

Jin Hyung earned his B.A. in Education (with Summa Cum Laude) and M.A. in Special Education from Seoul National University in South Korea. Before beginning his doctoral studies in 2022, he worked as a research assistant at the Special Education Research Institute at Seoul National University and as an instructor for an individualized reading program (Tiers 2/3) for students at risk for learning disabilities. As a recipient of the Overseas PhD Scholarship, Jin Hyung’s five years of doctoral study are supported by the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies (KFAS). Currently, he is working on his dissertation titled “Advancing the Conceptualization and Application of Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (TSEL): A Focus on Teachers as Implementers and Learners,” which is funded by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), the Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) at UC Berkeley, and the Center for Race and Gender (CRG) at UC Berkeley. He is also selected as a National Early Childhood Policy Research Fellow from the Institute of Human Development at UC Berkeley, conducting research on child policies that support young children with sickle cell disease. He is currently serving as a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 16 (School Psychology) Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs.

As of March 2025, Jin Hyung has published 20 peer-reviewed articles (including 2 in press) and delivered 23 presentations at national and international conferences. His research excellence has been recognized through several grants and awards, including the Trainers of School Psychologists (TSP) Graduate Student Scholarship, the Asian American Research Grant from the Asian American Research Center (AARC) at UC Berkeley, and the APA Division 16 Blue Ribbon Student Poster Awards. He was also a semi-finalist (top 8) in the 2024 UC Berkeley Grad Slam Competition and a finalist (top 12) in the APA 2024 Psych Science-in-3 Competition.