Jamie Alexander, PhD, CFLE

Bio

Dr. Jamie Alexander is an Assistant Professor and Human Development and Family Science Extension Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University where she teaches in the Youth, Family, and Community Sciences Graduate Program and engages with communities in supporting the well-being of youth and parents. Broadly speaking, her research focuses on the ways in which contextual- and individual-level factors shape adolescent, emerging adult, and parenting-related outcomes. Her current work focuses on the intersections of parenting, adolescent and emerging adult development, career development, and purpose in life. Her Extension program, OPTICS, which utilizes a purpose-driven career development model, reflects these research emphases in an applied manner as it engages both Black teens and their parents, providing relevant research-based information as well as practical measures for supporting teens’ career development through purpose development.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, walking the greenways, hiking trails, cooking and baking, watching a good sports game or movie, and catching up with friends.

Programs and Initiatives

• Opportunities for Purpose-Transformed Identities for Career Success (OPTICS)

Primary Teaching Responsibilities

• AEHS 502: Family Theories
• AEHS 510: Supervised Professional Experience (rotation)
• AEHS 540: Environmental Influences on the Family
• AEHS 543: Applied Concepts in Parenting and Family Life Education
• AEHS 578: Research Methods

Contributing Websites

• https://families.ces.ncsu.edu/ (in-process)

Selected Publication

• Alexander, J.D., Harris, C., & Durocher, S. (in press). Purpose: A potential catalyst and anchor for optimal work-family balance and well-being. Journal of Family Theory & Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12595
• Alexander, J. D., & Harris, C. (2022). Parenting styles’ effects on college students’ career decision-making self-efficacy. Career Development Quarterly, 70, 229– 236. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12303
• Harris, C., Alexander, J. D., & Vazsonyi, A. T. (2022). Maternal closeness, kinship ties, and future orientation among rural African American youth: The mediating role of ethnic identity. Journal of Adolescence, 1– 7. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12034
• Alexander, J., Cox, R., & Behnke, A, & Larzelere, R. (2017). Is all parental “non-involvement” equal? Barriers to parental involvement and their relationship to Latino academic achievement. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 39, 169 – 179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986317700837
• Cox, R. B., Shreffler, K. M., Merten, M. J., Schwerdtfeger Gallus, K. L., & Dowdy, J. (2014). Parenting, peers, and perceived norms: What predicts attitudes toward sex among early adolescents? Journal of Early Adolescence, 35, 30 – 53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431614523131

Area(s) of Expertise

• Parenting
• Career Development
• Adolescence & Emerging Adulthood
• Purpose