{"id":413,"date":"2023-01-13T12:38:31","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T18:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/education\/?post_type=program&p=413"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T19:42:44","slug":"research-teams","status":"publish","type":"program","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/education\/academics\/counseling-psychology-phd\/research-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\t\t\tResearch Teams\t\t<\/h1>\n\t<\/header>\n\t\n\t\n\n

Kelsey Autin Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kelsey Autin, PhD<\/a>
Assistant Professor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general focus of Autin\u2019s research is on how people find fulfillment in their occupations and how this relates to overall well-being. Within this, she focuses on how people\u2019s identities (e.g., gender, racial, social class identities) along with their sociopolitical contexts (e.g., experiences of marginalization, economic circumstances) shape their beliefs about their freedom of work choice and barriers to obtaining decent work (i.e., work in which people are paid adequately and are safe from physical and psychological harm). In turn, Autin looks at mechanisms through which decent work fulfills basic human needs (e.g., needs for financial security, connection with others, and a sense of autonomy) that ultimately lead to fulfillment, life satisfaction, and meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her work is grounded in the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016), which places contextual factors as primary predictors of work outcomes. Core to her work is a value of social justice, and she is interested in populations who face significant barriers due to marginalization (e.g., women, people of color, LGB and trans individuals, undocumented immigrants, people from low social class backgrounds).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autin\u2019s current projects include: an exploration of how social class and access to basic survival needs influences a person\u2019s desire for and experience of meaning at work; development of a measurement tool to assess need fulfillment; guidelines for infusing findings from PWT research into clinical practice; exploration of moderators in the link from marginalization to work volition; and a longitudinal examination of PWT hypotheses among people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadya A. Fouad Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nadya A. Fouad, PhD, ABPP<\/strong><\/a>
University Distinguished Professor & Mary and Ted Kellner Endowed Chair of Educational Psychology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Applications and extensions of the Social Cognitive Career Theory<\/em>. Fouad has been particularly interested in the math and science applications of the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). Most recently, she and her colleague Romila Singh have worked on three projects funded by the National Science Foundation that have examined reasons for persistence and departure from engineering, incorporating SCCT with Turnover Theory. The first project is Stemming the Tide<\/em><\/a>. They have continued that research in a second study with male engineers (NSFGears) to both describe male engineers\u2019 experiences and to compare men and women engineers. Along with Edward Levitas, they recently obtained a third NSF grant to examine the role of gender and race with engineering teams. You can learn more about this project by visiting their joint research website, STEMming the Tide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Cross-cultural interest assessment<\/em>. Fouad is interested in examining the role of race and ethnicity in vocational interests. Interestingly, she has found over the years that race\/ethnicity has a much smaller effect size influencing interests than do gender. Most interventions have focused on ways to promote racial\/ethnic minority individuals\u2019 interests in math and science careers, but findings suggest that research and interventions need to examine environmental factors and barriers to math\/science career choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Contextual issues in career development<\/em>. A third area of research relates broadly to contextual issues in career counseling and career development. Rosie Bingham and Dr. Fouad have developed a model (Fouad & Bingham, 1995) that explicitly incorporates culture into career counseling. Fouad also conducted a meta-analysis of the role of race\/ethnicity in career decision making and choice with her colleague Angela Byars-Winston (Fouad & Byars-Winston, 2005). They documented that race\/ethnicity plays a much stronger role in career expectations than it does in aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, building on a qualitative study investigating the construction of the meaning of career for Asian Americans, Fouad and her students have examined the influences of family expectations on career decisions. They developed a Family Influence Scale (Fouad et al., 2010) that is helping them to explore the role of family expectations and supports across cultures (including Korea, India, Turkey, Portugal, Italy, and Israel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Competence<\/em>. The final area of Fouad\u2019s research may be roughly classified as \u201cprofessional issues.\u201d She has been involved for the past 15 years in helping to clarify benchmarks in trainees\u2019 attaining competence as psychologists. More information on benchmarks tools are available on the APA Education Directorate<\/a> website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Research Projects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fouad has a very active research team with 14 students working on projects that focus primarily on topics related to career development and\/or cultural competence. Team projects are developed to help meet students\u2019 research goals. Projects often lead to publication in peer-reviewed academic journals. Many students on the team have also submitted proposals to present at the APA Annual Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a partial list of research questions Dr. Fouad\u2019s team is currently investigating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n