Mariya Yukhymenko

Mariya Yukhymenko is an Associate Professor of Research and Statistics in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at California State University, Fresno. Yukhymenko was a Visiting Research Specialist at Learning Sciences Research Institution at the University of Illinois Chicago. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with focus on research methodology from the University of Connecticut. She also earned M.A. degree in Sport Psychology from California State University, Fresno; M.A. degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut as a Fulbright student/scholar; and Specialist and B.A. degrees in Physical Education, Choreography, and Valeology from the National University “Chernihiv Collegium” in Ukraine (formerly Chernihiv National Pedagogical University). She holds a sport qualification of Master of Sport of Ukraine in rhythmic gymnastics.

Yukhymenko’s substantive research focused on the concept of life purpose and its impact on education attainment, career development, and practices in and outside of sports. She is also interested in college athletes’ social sense of self and its cross-domain interaction and spillover on achievement and well-being. As a methodologist, Yukhymenko is interested in development and validation of scales, application of advanced statistical modeling to the empirical data, and providing methodological support to the research of other scholars.

She is a member of the editorial boards of the Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, for which she was awarded the 2020 Outstanding Reviewer of the Year, and of the International Sport Coaching Journal. Her research has been cited by the American Psychological Association’s press, Inside Higher Ed, The Washington Post, ScienceDaily, APA Monitor on Psychology, MyScience, NBC News, NineMSN News, and The Indo-Canadian Voice among others.