UMass Boston

Content Expertise

• ECE workforce development, leadership, and organizational improvement
• Evaluation of state- and community-levels workforce development initiatives
• Responsive and accessible higher education pathways for early educators
• Relational conditions and social-emotional development
• Wage and compensation disparities
• Equity-centered initiatives for diverse communities

Methodological Expertise

• Randomized controlled trials
• Longitudinal and multilevel modeling (growth curve models; nested/clustered data)
• Structural equation modeling (mediation, moderation, CFA/EFA)
• Latent mixture modeling (latent class, latent profile, trajectory modeling)
• Dyadic modeling (Actor–Partner Interdependence Models; APIM)
• Survey development, psychometric validation, and scale construction
• Convergent mixed-methods designs
• Semi-structured interviews
• Thematic analysis
• Document and policy analysis

• Ph.D., Early Childhood Education and Care — University of Massachusetts Boston
• M.Ed., Early Childhood Education — Chung-Ang University (South Korea)
• B.A., Early Childhood Education (Cum Laude) — Pai Chai University (South Korea)

Workforce Systems & Leadership

• Lee, Y., Douglass, A., DelVecchio, B., Lopes, A. W., Zeng, S., & Guan, Y. (2025). Scalability of leadership development program in a state professional development system. Education Sciences, 15(5), 609.
• Zeng, S., Lee, Y., DelVecchio, B., Mendes, L., & Douglass, A. (2025). Evaluation of a business management program to promote child care educator outcomes: A randomized controlled trial. Early Childhood Education Journal, 53, 1657–1665.
• Douglass, A., Hallam, R., Lee, Y., Beatty, L., Sheffler, K., & Pic, A. (2025). Introduction to the ECE workforce systems change framework. National Early Care and Education Workforce Center.
• Lee, Y., Douglass, A., Zeng, S., Lopes, A. W., & Reyes, A. (2022). Preparing early educators as frontline leaders and change agents with a leadership development initiative. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 16, Article 2. DOI: 10.1186/s40723-022-00095-z

Compensation & Workforce Equity

• Lee, Y., Zeng, S., Douglass, A., Reyes, A., & Johnson, N. (2023). Racial and ethnic wage disparities among center-based early educators. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51(3), 493–502. 

Relational Conditions and Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood Contexts

• Lee, Y., Kim, K., & Yudron, M. (2024). School readiness of immigrant-origin children and enriching experiences. Early Education and Development, 35(6), 1127–1140.
• Lee, Y., Kim, K., Zeng, S., & Douglass, A. (2023). Mother-father relationships and child social-emotional adjustment: Mediation through maternal and paternal parenting. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 63, 15–23.
• Lee, Y., Kim, K., Zeng, S., & Douglass, A. (2023). Pathways from marital relationships to children’s social-emotional development in Korea: The role of parenting and social support. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 65, 342–351.
• Lee, Y., Kim, K., Yudron, M., & Douglass, A. (2022). Intersectional typologies of children with cultural minority backgrounds: Relation to school readiness in Head Start. Early Education and Development, 33(6), 979–996.
• Lee, Y., Kim, K., Zeng, S., & Douglas, A. (2022). Maternal and paternal parenting: The role of interparental positivity and negativity from a dyadic perspective. Children and Youth Services Review, 139, 106549.

Policy Briefs

• Lee, Y., Douglass, A., Beatty, L., Ku, D. H., Huddleston-Casas, C., Smith, S., Castle, S., & Lessard, L. (2025). Early findings from a case study of three states working to strengthen ECE workforce compensation. National Early Care and Education Workforce Center.
• Lee, Y., Beatty, L., Douglass, A., Sheffler, K., Hallam, R., & Khalid, S. (2025). The ECE workforce systems change framework reflection tool. National Early Care and Education Workforce Center.
• Castle, S., Solomon, B., Ranum, S., Scott, A., Verhoye, A., Douglass, A., Lee, Y., Khalid, S., & Lessard, L. (2025). Strengthening wage scale development in New Mexico through a systems change approach. National Early Care and Education Workforce Center.
• Lee, Y., Beatty, L., Douglass, A., Ku, D. H., Sheffler, K., & Hallam, R. (2025). Driving systems change in the ECE workforce via early educator engagement and leadership. National Early Care and Education Workforce Center.
• Sheffler, K., Castle, S., Douglass, A., Hallam, R., Lee, Y., Beatty, L., & Pic, A. (2025). Multi-sector & multi-partner collaboration in systems change for the ECE workforce. National Early Care and Education Workforce Center.
• Castle, S., Beatty, L., Douglass, A., Hallam, R., Lee, Y., Sheffler, K., & Pic, A. (2025). Data-driven decision making in systems change for the ECE workforce. National Early Care and Education Workforce Center.

Dr. Lee began her career as a public kindergarten teacher in South Korea. Dr. Lee’s scholarship is shaped by her experiences across South Korea and the United States—as a classroom teacher, researcher, parent, and immigrant to the U.S.—and these perspectives inform her equity-centered, practice-informed approach.

Her work is guided by foundational questions:

• How can systems be designed to ensure fair and competitive compensation and accessible, responsive higher education and career pathways for the ECE workforce from diverse backgrounds?
• How can workforce policies and program designs more effectively support children, families, and educators from culturally, linguistically, and racially diverse communities?

To address these questions, Dr. Lee uses a wide range of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Her work appears in peer-reviewed scholarly journals (e.g., Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Early Education and Development, Early Childhood Education Journal) and in policy briefs designed to support state and community leaders.

Dr. Lee is part of the National Early Care and Education Workforce Center, where she co-leads development of the ECE Workforce Systems Change Framework—a tool designed to support state and community leaders in driving sustainable workforce systems reform.

She also serves as an ad hoc reviewer for journals including Early Childhood Research Quarterly, AERA Open, Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, and the International Journal of Early Childhood Education.