Dr. Ashley Votruba is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraka–Lincoln. She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Arizona State University and her J.D. from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law in 2017. Dr. Votruba was a faculty fellow in the HRHA program in Spring 2024.
Dr. Votruba’s research focuses on civil justice legal needs in the U.S., with an emphasis on understanding how people navigate these needs. Her research is motivated by the disconnect between those who need help from the legal system and those who actually seek legal assistance. Her research encompasses understanding this gap as well as identifying individuals who have civil justice problems, and their decision-making process as they go through the civil legal system from a psychological lens. The ultimate goal of the project is to strengthen the support available for resolving civil justice problems.
Dr. Votruba highlights the significant impact that the fellowship had on her research. Through conversations with fellows from different areas like Sociology and Political Science, she was able to broaden her perspective and consider civil justice on a bigger scale, which further informed her research framework and theory from an international lens.
Reflecting on her HRHA fellowship, Dr. Votruba expressed that, “one of the real advantages of the fellow is that you're put into a cohort with others who might be from different disciplines, we each had a different lens, and as a faculty member, it's incredibly rare that you get dedicated time to talk to folks in different disciplines who do different things and learn a little bit from their perspectives…one of the real advantages is just the process gives you the time and the space to explore outside of your own little niche area, and then bounce ideas off of another group of folks.”
Speaking about her current project, Dr. Votruba shared how, together with an interdisciplinary group of researchers, the Advancing Justice Collaboratory seeks to integrate technology as a way to promote access to justice. The project includes community-based components, intending to create impact at the community level. Dr. Votruba emphasized the value of understanding how individuals interpret their rights and what they look like. She shared that approaching these issues through a human rights lens has helped her further her research, allowing her to reflect on how the U.S. addresses civil justice, compared to other industrialized countries. This allows us to explore individual perceptions and ask questions like, “Do people see these civil justice problems as legal problems? Do they define them in their heads as something that they should take to the legal system?” Professor Votruba is looking forward to potentially implementing these findings in Nebraska in the future.
Reflecting on her time as a fellow, Dr. Votruba shared, “I was thinking about how great the timing was in my career, because I was pre-tenure. I had been here at UNL for 4 or 5 years, and this came at a point where I was still pretty junior, and so, that was wonderful, having this opportunity early in one's career. I think it was a great way to push me in a trajectory that I was moving with confidence.”
