With a Side of Knowledge is a podcast produced by the Office of the Provost at the University of Notre Dame. It brings listeners informal interviews with fascinating scholars and professionals from both Notre Dame and elsewhere that typically take place over brunch.
The 18th episode of the show’s third season, “On Education, Parenting, and Improving Outcomes,” was released Thursday, April 30, and features Jenni Heissel, assistant professor in the Graduate School of Defense Management at the Naval Postgraduate School. Due to the coronavirus, the interview was conducted virtually via Zoom.
Heissel’s research at the intersection of economics, public policy, and psychology has been covered by The Atlantic, The New York Times, NPR, the Brookings Evidence Speaks series, and a number of other outlets. She just received a large grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the Department of Defense’s parental support policies.
A 2007 graduate of Notre Dame, Heissel holds a master of public policy degree from Duke and a Ph.D. in human development and social policy from Northwestern. Her interdisciplinary expertise has driven her to pursue some highly applicable research not only in the area of parenting but also education, including on in-person versus online instruction and what impact, if any, school start times have on students’ academic performance.
In addition, she and host Ted Fox discussed a paper she has forthcoming in The Journal of Human Resources focused on how the siblings of teen moms are affected by the arrival of the baby, a dynamic that hasn’t been closely studied to this point.
You can visit provost.nd.edu/podcast to learn more about With a Side of Knowledge, which is available through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Lyceum, Spotify, Stitcher, or by searching “With a Side of Knowledge” in your favorite podcast app.
You can also listen to the episode with Heissel using the player below.
Originally published by at provost.nd.edu on April 30, 2020.