AMENA-PSY (American Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association)

Faculty IDE Research

Gili Freedman

One of my two main lines of research examines gender biases against women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). In this work, I conduct studies to understand how women in STEM are perceived within academic settings and the media. Along with my collaborators, I design and test game and narrative interventions that aim to decrease biases against women in STEM and improve the recruitment and retention of women in STEM.

     Sample IDE publications:

1. Freedman, G., Green, M. C., *Kussman, M., *Drusano, M., & Moore, M. (2023). “Dear future woman of STEM”: Letters of advice from women in STEM. International Journal of STEM Education, 10(20). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00411-0
2. Freedman, G., Green, M. C., Kaufman, G., & Flanagan, M. (2021). Using comics and tweets to raise awareness about gender biases in STEM. Psychology of Popular Media. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000313
3. Freedman, G., Seidman, M., Flanagan, M., Kaufman, G., & Green, M. C. (2018). The impact of an “aha” moment on gender biases: Limited evidence for the efficacy of a game intervention that challenges gender assumptions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 162-167. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2018.03.014
4. Freedman, G., Green, M. C., Flanagan, M., Fitzgerald, K., & Kaufman, G. (2018). The effect of gender on attributions for women’s anxiety and doubt in a science narrative. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 42, 178-191. doi: 10.1177/0361684318754528

Kristina Howansky

My research broadly investigates the malleability of how people think about and perceive themselves and others. Moreover, I examine the downstream consequences of cognitive and perceptual biases for large-scale social issues such as discrimination toward stigmatized groups. In several lines of work, I investigate factors that predict differences in the way people think about, perceive, and attend to members of stigmatized populations. Much of my work focuses on understanding the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly individuals who identify as transgender and bisexual. My current work explores biased visual processes of stigmatized groups (e.g., transgender individuals or people with criminal records), identity denial of bisexual individuals, misgendering, and transgender stereotypes across racial groups. Throughout my work, I aim to take an intersectional perspective to recognize the way that multiple identities interact to create unique experiences.

     Sample IDE publications: 

1. Young, D., Wilton, L., & Howansky, K. (in press). Initial evidence for shifting race essentialism beliefs in the classroom.  Teaching of Psychology. Advanced online publication.https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283221127384
2. Maimon, M., Howansky, K., & Sanchez, D. (in press). Fostering inclusivity: Exploring the impact of identity safety cues and instructor gender on students’ impressions and belonging. Teaching of Psychology. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283211043779
3. Howansky, K., Wittlin, N., *Bonagura, D., & Cole, S. (2022). Him, her, them, or neither: Misgendering and degendering of transgender individuals. Psychology & Sexuality, 13(4), 1026-1040. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2021.1978529
4. Howansky, K., Maimon, M., & Sanchez, D. (2022). Identity safety cues predict instructor impressions, belonging, and absences in the higher-ed classroom. Teaching of Psychology, 49(3), 212-217.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628321990362
5. Howansky, K., Maimon, M., & Sanchez, D. (2021). Identity safety cues predict instructor impressions, belonging, and absences in the higher-ed classroom. Teaching of Psychology. Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628321990362
6. Howansky, K., Wilton, L., & Young, D., Abrams, S., & Clapham, R. (2021). (Trans)gender stereotypes and the self: Content and consequences of gender identity stereotypes. Self and Identity, 20(4), 478 – 495. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2019.1617191
7. Maimon, M., Sanchez, D., Albuja, A., Howansky, K. (2021) Bisexual identity denial: The unique influence of identity denial experiences on bisexual mental health, meta-perceptions, and social concerns. Self and Identity, 20(4), 515 – 227. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2019.1624275
8. Howansky, K., Albuja, A., & Cole, S. (2020). Seeing gender: Perceptual representations of transgender individuals. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(4), 474 – 482. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619875143
9. Manuel, S. K., Howansky, K., Chaney, K., Sanchez, D. (2017). No rest for the stigmatized: An organizational health and workplace sexism (OHWS) model. Sex Roles, 77(9 – 10), 697 – 708. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0755-x

Ayşe Ikizler

All aspects of my professional activities–teaching, research, and service–center on IDE-related issues. My clinical/counseling-related courses place a heavy emphasis on multicultural and social justice. My primary research interest focuses on the ways in which oppressive experiences (e.g., ethnic discrimination, Islamophobia, sexism, heterosexism) and traditional gender role socialization relate to mental health outcomes. I am especially interested in the experiences of sexual minorities (e.g., LGBQ+) and individuals of Arab/Middle Eastern/North African (AMENA) backgrounds in the United States, and understanding identity development among diverse individuals with multiple oppressions (e.g., sexual minority women, queer people of color). Much of my service efforts are geared towards confronting systemic racism at societal and institutional levels. 

     Sample IDE publications:

1. Ikizler, A. S. & Szymanski, D. M. (2018). Discrimination, religious and cultural factors, and Middle Eastern/Arab Americans’ psychological distress. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74, 1219-1233. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22584   * This article is featured in the inaugural Research Spotlight of the American Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association (AMENA-Psy)
2. Szymanski, D. M., Ikizler, A. S, & Dunn, T.  (2016). Sexual minority women’s relationship quality: Examining the roles of multiple oppressions, silencing the self, and relationship type. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3, 1–10. DOI: 10.1037/sgd0000145   * This article was selected for inclusion in APA Journals Article Spotlight™
3. Ikizler, A. S., & Szymanski, D. M. (2014). A qualitative study of Middle Eastern/Arab American sexual minority identity development. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 8, 206-241. DOI: 10.1080/15538605.2014.89729   *This article was recognized as one of the most downloaded articles published in Routledge Behavioral Sciences journals in 2014.

Scott Mirabile

My research is broadly about how children learn to be socially and emotionally competent in early childhood. My more recent collaborative work focuses on these issues in populations that are underrepresented in much of the research literature (for example, how Iranian parents teach children about emotions; socioemotional competence in Pakistani preschoolers).

      Sample IDE publications: 

1. Siraj, A. & Mirabile, S. P. The mediating role of emotional knowledge in the relationship between temperament, school adjustment, and social competence in Pakistani preschoolers.  Manuscript submitted to Special Issue of Psychological Studies on Socialisation in Contemporary India.
2. Kosari, F., Esmaeilinasab, M., & Mirabile, S.P., Speranza, M. (2022). Psychometric properties of the Persian Version of the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 16(3).

My secondary scholarship areas are inherently connected to issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and access (DEIJA). My collaborators and I have published and presented work describing how to take an anti-racist approach to writing recommendation letters. Working under a multi-institution HHMI grant, I am collaborating with professors at SMCM to develop, validate, and institutionalize a measure of equitable, inclusive teaching practices. I am also collaborating with SMCM and outside faculty on a series of papers describing concrete anti-racist teaching practices within a theoretical framework informed by Critical Race Theory, Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), and a critique of White Supremacy Culture.

      Sample IDE publications: 

1. Bellamy, P., Haynes, C. L., Martin, L., Mirabile, S. P., Niv, Y., Rose, J. K., & Ross, R. A. (2022). A guide for writing anti-racist tenure and promotion letters. eLife, 11:e79892. doi: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.79892
2. Bustamante, L.; Mirabile, S.; Clayton, E.; Rose, J.; & Niv, Y. (July, 2022). Accountability for anti-racism work in academia. Panel discussion for Growing Up In Science. 
3. Martin, L.; Mirabile, S.; & Niv, Y. (Nov., 2022). Writing anti-racist recommendation letters for students and colleagues. Panel discussion for Growing Up In Science.

In my teaching, I strive to incorporate into every course scholarship-backed approaches that promote equity, inclusion, access, and transparency.  For example, I promote access by limiting course-related expenses, providing ample out-of-class availability, and sharing course resources. I promote equity by using grading policies that reward growth, anonymized grading, and clear rubrics that minimize subjectivity. I promote inclusion by providing students with meaningful input on course topics, using assignments that allow students to explore how their experiences and identities connect to course content, and using assessments that allow students to represent their knowledge in varied ways. I promote transparency by using clear assignment guides and rubrics, by being honest about the limits of my knowledge and experience, and by engaging students as partners in the course feedback process.

Libby Nutt Williams

Across my entire career, my teaching and my research have focused on issues of multiculturalism. In my classes, I focus on multicultural theories, particularly as they relate to counseling, psychotherapy, and psychological research. We examine definitions of race/ethnicity, sex/gender, sexuality and related “isms” (racism, sexism, heterosexism) as well as broader issues of power. We study the research on implicit bias in counseling and look to the profession of psychology for best practices, such as the APA’s 2017 Multicultural Guidelines: An Ecological Approach to Context, Identity, and Intersectionality. As a counseling psychologist (and one with interest in psychotherapy research and social identities), my research has often focused on the intersection of race and gender, with a particular emphasis on feminist multicultural models of counseling. In 2013, I co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Multicultural Counseling Psychology with Carol Enns, and I have several lines of research (in counseling and in leadership) that examine issues of gender and race (see below for recent examples).

      Sample IDE publications (* indicates student author):

1. Williams, E.N., Chin, J.L., Grande, S., Handford, C., Kenny, A.C., Nakamura, Y.T., Roh, A., & Shaw, G. (2025). Standing at the crossroads of culture, gender, and leadership: Seeking a productive path for the 21st century and beyond. In C. Shealy (Ed.), Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self: How the Human Species Might Fulfill its Potential. New York: Oxford Press.
2. Marcelli*, M., Williams, E. N., Culotta*, K., & Ertman*, B. (2020). The impact of racial- ethnic socialization practices on international transracial adoptee identity development. Adoption Quarterly, 23(4), 266-285.
3. Williams. E. N. (2020). Research with underserved populations: Matching method to need. In J. Zimmerman, J. Barnett, & L. Campbell (Eds.), Bringing psychotherapy to the underserved: Challenges and strategies (pp. 323-338). New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Wolf*, J., Williams, E. N., Darby*, M., Herald*, J., & Schultz*, C. (2018). Just for women? Feminist multicultural therapy with male clients.  Sex Roles, 78, 439-450.
5. Williams, E.N., Chin, J.L., Grande, S., Handford, C., Kenny, A.C., Nakamura, Y.T., Roh, A., & Shaw, G. (2020). Standing at the crossroads of culture, gender, and leadership: Seeking a productive path for the 21st century and beyond. In C. Shealy (Ed.), Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self: How the Human Species Might Fulfill its Potential. New York: Oxford Press.

Anandi Ehman

My research and scholarship broadly focuses on understanding interpersonal violence. This includes work examining variables which impact individuals’ likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior in a variety of contexts (e.g., cyberbullying), as well as work examining the experiences of victims, particularly those with historically marginalized identities (e.g., LGBTQ+,  BIPOC). More recently, my work has focused on how larger systems (e.g., laws and policies) may impact victims’ access to support and resources, as well as impact the beliefs and attitudes of bystanders.

Sample IDE scholarship:

1. Ho, L.Y., Ehman, A.C., & Gross, A. (2021).  Gender Roles, Sexual Assertiveness, & Sexual Coercion in LGBTQ Individuals. Sexuality & Culture.
2. Michels, G.*,  Crew, R.*, Ehman, A.C. (2024). Differences in Sexual Coercion and Assault Among Heterosexual and SGM Individuals. Poster accepted at the Annual Meeting for the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), February 29th-March 2nd, Philadelphia, PA.
3.  Crew, R.*, Michels, G.*, Ehman, A.C. (2024). Did He Try To Prevent It?: Differential Attitudes Towards Sexual Assault Victims. Poster accepted at the Annual Meeting for the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), February 29th-March 2nd, Philadelphia, PA.

Additionally, I am passionate about applying an intersectional, antiracist, and trauma informed lens to the practice of psychotherapy, as well as to how we discuss the realm of higher education. Thus, I have additional scholarship related to these topics. 

Sample IDE scholarship:

1. Ehman, A.C. (2024, September 19th). Identity InterACTion: Applying an Intersectional Perspective to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Invited Guest Speaker at the Training Clinic for the University of North Carolina Greensboro Clinical Psychology PhD Program, Weekly Didactics, Greensboro, NC, Virtual Meeting.
2. Kalantzis, M., Barrita, A.,Chang, R., Wong-Padoongpatt, G., Ehman, A.C. (2024, August). A Critical Examination of Microaggressions across Marginalized Identities in Undergraduate and Graduate Students. Symposium accepted at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), August 7th-9th, Denver CO.
3. Ehman, A.C., Bastien, G., Berman, I.S., Dille, J., Hamer, J.D. (2024, August). You Can Go Your Own Way: Diverse Perspectives on Alternative Career Paths in Health Service Psychology. Critical Conversation accepted at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), August 7th-9th, Denver CO.
4. Ehman, A.C., Weber, M.C. (2023). Providing Trauma Informed Care to Rural Populations: Special Considerations. Continuing Education Workshop presented at the 69th Annual Meeting for the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA), April 5th-8th, New Orleans LA.