She received her B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Virginia in 2006 and her Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 2011. A labor economist, she researches the barriers preventing workers from achieving efficient employment outcomes and students from optimally acquiring human capital. These barriers include the cost of developing a labor market reputation, the effects of workplace discrimination, and the insufficiency of information about the college admissions process that constricts student opportunities. Her research has found that giving the labor market an assessment of workers’ abilities benefits workers and allows the market to operate more efficiently; that college financial aid can have large, positive effects on college enrollment and persistence; and that firms hire the friends and relatives of current workers in part because it allows them to hire more productive workers.