Post Doctoral Fellow

Human Development and Family Science

Start Date: August 2026

POSITION: The Department of Human Development and Family Sciences invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow. This position would join an active research team to study the impact of family transitions such as divorce, immigration, and stepfamily formation on family and child development. The postdoctoral fellow will gain in-depth training on conducting and disseminating research through independent and collaborative research projects as well as proposal writing. The program currently has a data set consisting of over 40,000 observations. The position is a one-year appointment beginning in August 2026, with the possibility for renewal dependent upon funding and satisfactory performance. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Oversee data collection, management and analysis for the project;

Supervise graduate and/or undergraduate research assistants;

Work with program implementation team to refine and improve the intervention;

Contribute to manuscript and proposal development;

Disseminate findings to appropriate professional and community partners.

Organize and participate in team meetings

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science or related field with well-developed research expertise and interests connected to the foci of the project;

Excellent written and oral communication skills, especially with regard to scientific writing;

Strong quantitative skills (including some experience with the management of large data sets and strong data analysis skills, especially longitudinal data and dyadic data);

Highly organized and able to manage several projects simultaneously;

Excellent interpersonal skills for working collaboratively with researchers and other professionals, including administrators, academic professionals, and practitioners in the field.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge in one or more of the following content areas is preferred but not mandatory:

Spanish language skills.

Qualtrics software

MS Excel

SALARY AND BENEFITS: Salary will be commensurate with education, experience, qualifications, and contingent on available funding. Benefits include a comprehensive medical plan. Information on benefits can be found at https://hr.okstate.edu/benefits/index.html. Postdoctoral positions are not eligible for retirement benefits.

GENERAL INFORMATION: HDFS is a vibrant community of scholars with approximately 20 full-time faculty members, 400 undergraduate students, and 90 graduate students. Undergraduate specializations are offered in Child and Family Services, Early Childhood Education (ranked seventh nationally among the 25 Best Early Childhood Education Bachelor’s Programs according to Bachelor’s Degree Center), Family and Consumer Sciences Education, and Opportunity Orange Scholars (inclusive post-secondary education for students with intellectual disability). Graduate specializations are offered in Applied Human Services, Developmental and Family Science, Early Childhood Education, Gerontology, and Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT). Recent graduates with terminal degrees (B.S. with the ECE option, M.S. with the MFT and CFS options, and Ph.D.) have experienced near-100% success in finding relevant employment and passing licensing exams.

Project investigators associated with this postdoctoral fellow position include: Drs. Ronald Cox (Director), Hua Lin, Robert Larzelere, Michael Fitzgerald, Jana Payne, Mengya Wang, and Cecelia Samuels.

The department has established several outstanding centers, including the Child Development Laboratory, the Center for Family Resilience, the Center for Family Services, the Center for Immigrant Health and Education, and the Institute for Developmental Disabilities. Consistent with the land-grant emphasis on scholarship dissemination, members of the faculty work with community partners in regional agencies and with Cooperative Extension educators in all 77 counties in Oklahoma. Additionally, Oklahoma ranks fifth in the country for Pre-K access for 4-year-olds, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). Oklahoma also scores among the top 11 states in the nation for quality Pre-K programs. For more information about the department, its faculty, centers, and programs, please go to: https://education.okstate.edu/departments-programs/human-development-family-science/index.html

The College of Education and Human Sciences comprises seven academic units, more than 170 faculty members, and nearly 200 full-time staff. More information is available at: http://education.okstate.edu/

University Overview 

Oklahoma State University, an R1 comprehensive land-grant institution with an enrollment of more than 25,000 students. The university offers 87 undergraduate majors, 84 Master’s programs and 48 programs at the doctoral levels at campuses in Stillwater and Tulsa. Stillwater is a micropolitan community of approximately 49,000 people with high-quality amenities and a comparably low cost of living. Oklahoma City and Tulsa are within a 1-hour drive and cities such as Fayetteville, AR, Joplin, MO and Wichita, KS are within a comfortable 2-3-hour drive time of Stillwater. In addition to excellent healthcare, education (public and private primary and secondary schools), and recreational services, the community affords a rich variety of cultural activities typical of a major university environment, including museums, music, art, and theater. Providing a combination of larger city amenities with an airport and cultural life, while maintaining the charm of a smaller community with affordable housing and excellent schools, Stillwater is ranked one of America’s safest cities. See http://VisitStillwater.org for more information.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: To apply, submit a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, unofficial transcripts, teaching statement, and contact information for three references to http://jobs.okstate.edu.

Review of applications is ongoing and will continue until the position is filled. This position is contingent upon available funding. 

For further information please contact: Dr. Ron Cox at r.cox@okstate.edu