Dr. Packard is an expert on mentoring, motivation, and identity. She studies the persistence of women, minorities, and first-generation college students in non-traditional fields such as science and technology fields; how students can maximize their access to mentoring; and how young people from low-income backgrounds, especially urban ethnic minority students, strive to pursue higher education in many forms and participate in science and technology fields. Ultimately, she aims to identify success strategies that support motivation and turn aspirations into realities.