Michelle Seligson, Ed.M.

Associate Director and Senior Research Scientist

Michelle Seligson arrived at WCW in the fall of 1978 to begin work on a national research and action project on afterschool programs, for which she received a small Ford Foundation grant. Originally titled The School-Age Child Care Project, it is now known as the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST). This work grew out of Seligson’s several years of community organizing and program development for the Town of Brookline where she was the assistant director of the Town's Human Relations/Youth Resources Commission. In that role she helped parents and others start afterschool programs in the public schools. When two mass-market magazines wrote about the Brookline programs, Seligson received thousands of letters from across the county, leading to her bringing the School-Age Child Care Project to WCW.

After more than 20 years as founding director of NIOST conducting research, technical assistance, training, and advocacy to stimulate more development of programs and policy in afterschool programs, Seligson began a new project at the Centers. This project, Bringing Yourself To Work: Caregiving in After School Programs, produced a book, Bringing Yourself to Work: A Guide to Successful Staff Development in After-School Programs (Columbia University, 2003), and a training program geared to adults who work with children. Its intellectual base is social-emotional learning and relational-cultural theory, among other theory frameworks.

Seligson has co-authored a number of publications through the years, beginning with School-Age Child Care: An Action Manual in 1982. During the mid-eighties, she embarked on an investigation of early childhood programs and the role of public schools, and this resulted in a book titled Early Childhood Programs and the Public Schools: Between Promise and Practice.

Seligson’s work at WCW reflects an interest and abiding belief in the power of good ideas to attract others to solve problems and a recognition that it takes at least 20 years to create a movement and a context in which that can happen.

In late September 2000, she embarked on a new venture in addition to her work on the Bringing Yourself to Work Project. She was accepted into the analytic training program at the Boston Jung Institute and participate in seminars and other activities associated with becoming a Jungian analyst. In 2003 she began collaborating on a documentary about mothers who are also women artists which is set for release in January 2008. Seligson retired from WCW in the summer of 2007.

Other interests have always been in the literary area—reading novels and writing poems, something she has done since adolescence. She is a swimmer, walker, and unabashed lover of her cat, Shadow. She is proud of her two adult children and their different life choices--one an attorney, and the other a musician and composer.

Resources to Get Help

Staff at the Wellesley Centers for Women conduct research on issues that affect women and girls, families and communities. However, we do not provide direct care, legal advice, advocacy, or referrals. If you are in need of mental health, domestic violence, or sexual assault services, please refer to this list of resources:

Mental Health Resources

National Alliance on Mental Illness
1 (800) 950-NAMI (6264)
NAMI offers an array of support and education programs that help build better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255
The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator
Sponsored by the U.S. DHHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1-800-662-HELP (4357)
1-800-487-4889 (TDD)
Use the Locator to find alcohol and drug abuse treatment or mental health treatment facilities and programs around the country.

Domestic Violence Resources

National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
The staff at the National Domestic Violence Hotline believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. They believe that every family deserves to live in a world free from violence. They believe that safe homes and safe families are the foundation of a safe society.

National Network to End Domestic Violence a social change organization, is dedicated to creating a social, political, and economic environment in which violence against women no longer exists.

Feminist Majority Foundation has a list of domestic violence hotlines and resources.

Additional Sexual Violence and Gender-Based Violence Resources

National Human Trafficking Hotline
Call 1-888-373-7888 ( TTY: 711) | Text 233733 | Live Chat

ECPAT-USA
ECPAT-USA is the leading anti-trafficking policy organization in the United States. ECPAT-USA belongs to an international network of organizations in 73 countries, all working to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
1.800.656.HOPE
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.

The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people; all persons have the right to access help as a survivor regardless of gender, transgender status, or gender expression.

WomensLaw.org provides resources to help women to learn their rights and to find information about teen dating violence, domestic abuse, and sexual assault. 

The Class of 1967 Internship Program at the Wellesley Centers for Women

Social Science Research Internships for Wellesley College Students

Each year, the Wellesley Centers for Women offers five to six paid internships to Wellesley College students through the Class of 1967 Internship Program. Throughout the academic year, students who participate in the program:

• Gain hands-on social science research experience under the mentorship of a WCW research scientist
• Contribute to ongoing research projects or design their own study related to gender equality, social justice, or human wellbeing
• Have the opportunity to co-author papers, attend conferences, present alongside their WCW mentor, or present at Wellesley's Tanner or Ruhlman conferences.
• Make a difference in the world through research and action

The program is open to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Throughout the academic year, interns are expected to work an average of 8-10 hours per week. Interns are asked to submit a final report.

Learn more about the work that former interns and other student employees have done while working at WCW.

Apply in Workday. Log into the “My Wellesley” portal and select “Workday”. Go to the Career worklet in your Workday main menu. You can then search by the requisition number to locate the role and apply for the position. The requisition number for each internship is noted below.

Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.

Allison J. Tracy, Ph.D. 

Non-WCW Publications:

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Noonan, A.E., Tracy, A.J., & Grossman, J. (2012). Constructing profiles of religious agreement and disagreement between adolescents and mothers: A research note. Review of Religious Research.

Alexander, P.C., Morris, E., Tracy, A., & Frye, A. (2010). Stages of change and group treatment of batterers: A randomized clinical trial. Violence and Victims, 25(5), 571-587.

Marshall, N.L. & Tracy, A.J. (2010). After the baby: Work-family conflict and working mothers’ psychological health. Family Relations, 58(4), 380-391.

Liang, B., Tracy, A.J., Kenny, M.E., Brogan, D., Gatha, R. (2010). The relational health indices for youth: An examination of reliability and validity aspects. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 42(2).

Tracy, A.J., Erkut, S., Porche, M.V., Kim, J., Charmaraman, L., Grossman, J.M., Ceder, I., & Vázquez Garcia, H. (2010). Measurement uncertainty in racial and ethnic identification among adolescents of mixed-ancestry: A latent variable approach. Structural Equation Modeling, 17(1), 11-133. NIHMSID 277208

Alexander, P.C, Tracy, A., Radek, M., & Koverola, C. (2009). Predicting stages of change in battered women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(10), 1652-1672.

Yates, T.M., Tracy, A.J., & Luthar, S. (2008). Nonsuicidal self-injury among “privileged” youth: Longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches to developmental process. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(1), 52-62.

Schecter, E., Tracy, A.J., Page, K.V., & Luong, G. (2008). Shall we marry? Legal marriage as a commitment event in same-sex relationships during the post-legalization period. Journal of Homosexuality, 54(4), 400-422.

Liang, B., Tracy, A.J., Kenny, M., & Brogan, D. (2008). Gender differences in the relational health of youth participating in a social competency program. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(4), 499-514

Liang, B., Tracy, A.J., & Ting, D. (2007). The Relational Health Indices: Assessing men’s and women’s relationships. Australian Community Psychologist, 19, 35-52.

Wink, P., Ciciolla, L., Dillon, M., & Tracy, A. (2007). Religiousness, spiritual seeking and personality: Findings from a longitudinal study. Journal of Personality, 75(5), 1051-1070.

Liang, B., Tracy, A., Kauh, T., Taylor, C., & Williams, L. (2006). Mentoring Asian and Euro-American college women. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 34, 143-154.

Tolman, D.L., Impett, E.A., Tracy, A.J., & Michael, A. (2006). Looking good, sounding good: Femininity ideology and adolescent girls’ mental health, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 85-95.

Perry, C., LeMay, N., Rodway, G., Tracy, A., & Galer, J. (2005). Validating a work group climate assessment tool for improving the performance of public health organizations. Human Resources for Health, 3(10). Available at http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/3/1/10. Published online 2005 October 13. doi: 0.1186/1478-4491-3-10. PMCID: PMC1276808

Cramer, P. & Tracy, A. (2004). The pathway from child personality to adult adjustment: The road is not straight. Journal of Research in Personality, 39, 369-394.

Taylor C.A., Liang B., Tracy A.J., Williams L.M., Seigle P.  (2002) Gender differences in middle school  adjustment, physical fighting, and social skills:  Evaluation of a social competency program. Journal of Primary Prevention, 23(2), 259-272.

Tracy, A. J. & Erkut, S. (2002). Gender and race patterns in the pathways from sports participation to self-esteem. Sociological Perspectives, 45(4), 445-466.

Erkut, S., & Tracy, A. J. (2002). Predicting adolescent self-esteem from participation in school sports among Latino subgroups. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 24(4), 409-429.

Liang, B., Tracy, A., & Taylor, C. (2002).  Mentoring college-aged women: A relational approach. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(2), 271-288.

Liang, B., Tracy, A., Taylor, C., Williams, L., Jordan, J., & Miller, J. B. (2001). The Relational Health Indices: A study of women’s relationships. Psychology of Women’s Quarterly, 26, 25-35.

Tracy, A.J. (2000). Agreement among stepfamily members: A critique of the available modeling approaches. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 34(1), 95-110.

Collins, L.M., & Tracy, A.J. (1997). Estimation in complex latent transition models with extreme data sparseness. Kwantitatieve Methoden, 55, 57-71.

Edited Chapters

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2007). “If you let me play…”: Does high school physical activity reduce urban young women’s sexual risks? In B.J. Leadbeater & N. Way (eds.), Urban girls revisited: Building strengths (pp. 263-280). New York: NYU Press.

Limber, S.P., Nation, M., Tracy, A.J., Melton, G.B.,  & Flerx, V. (2004). Implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention programme in the Southeastern United States. In Smith, P.K., Pepler, D., & Rigby, K. (eds.), Bullying in Schools: How Successful Can Interventions Be? Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Working Papers and Technical Reports

Ceder, I., Charmaraman, L., Erkut, S., Frye, A., Grossman, J., & Tracy, A. J. (2012) Can Sex Education Delay Early Sexual Debut? Journal of Early Adolesence. 1 - 16. doi: 10.1177/0272431612449386. Read article here.

Harris, T.C., Tracy, A.J., Fisher, G.G. (2011). 2011 Predictive Index® Technical Overview. PI Worldwide. http://www.piworldwide.com/Research-Insights/Whitepapers/2011/2011-Predictive-Index-Technical-Overview.aspx.

Tracy, A. & Erkut, S. (2010). Biracial/ethnic adolescents’ social adjustment profiles: Implications of identification categories and gender. Wellesley Centers for Women Working Paper Series, # 433. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Pappano, L. & Tracy, A.J. (2009). Ticket office sexism: The gender gap in pricing for NCAA Division I basketball. (#432). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

McGroder, S.M. & Tracy, A.J. (2009). Profiles of Romantic and Sexual Relationships in Emerging Adulthood: A National Study. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Family and Youth Services Bureau.

Robeson, W.W., Frye, A., & Tracy, A.J. (2009). Welfare reform, subsidized child care, and family and child well-being.

Erkut, S. & Tracy, A.J. (2005). Physical activity as a protective factor for sexual outcomes. Final report to the National Institutes of Health (NICHD).

Schecter, E., Tracy, A.J., Page, K.V., & Luong, G. (2005). "Doing marriage": Same-sex relationship dynamics in the post-legalization period. In Same-Sex Marriage Study Group (Ed.), What I Did for Love, or Benefits, or...: Same-Sex Marriage in Massachusetts (#424). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Schecter, E., Tracy, A.J., Page, K.V., & Luong, G. (2005). Shall We Marry? Legal Marriage as a Commitment Event in Same-Sex Relationships During the Post-Legalization Period (#422). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Tracy, A.J. & Sorsoli, C.L. (2004). A Quantitative Analysis Method for Feminist Researchers (#414). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Porche, M.V., Fhagen-Smith, P., Kim, J.H., Vázquez Garcia, H.A., Tracy, A., & Erkut, S. (2004). Complexities in Researching Mixed Ancestry Adolescents: A Preliminary Study (#418). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Erkut, S. & Tracy, A.J. (2003). Mixed Ancestry Adolescents (#409). Wellesley: MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Sayer, A.G. & Tracy, A.J. (1998). Using Developmental Processes to Predict Substance Use Outcomes (#98-25). The Methodology Center, Pennsylvania State University: State College, PA.

Tracy, A.J., Collins, L.M., & Graham, J.W. (1997). Exposure to Adult Substance Use as a Risk Factor in Adolescent Substance Use Onset: Part I (#97-13). The Methodology Center, Pennsylvania State University: State College, PA.

Tracy, A.J. & Sayer, A.G. (1997).Modeling Trajectories of Ego Resiliency Using Hierarchical Linear Models (#97-12). The Methodology Center, Pennsylvania State University: State College, PA.

Papers Presented at Professional Meetings

Marshall, N.L., Robeson, W.W., Tracy, A.J. & Roberts, J. (2009). Welfare reform, subsidized child care, and family and child well-being. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA.

Tracy, A.J., Erkut, S., Porche, M.V., Kim, J., Charmaraman, L., Grossman, J.M., Ceder, I., & Vázquez Garcia, H. (2008). Measurement uncertainty in racial and ethnic identification among adolescents of mixed-ancestry: A latent variable approach. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence.

Ceder, I., Charmaraman, L., Erkut, S., Grossman, J.M., Kim, J., Porche, M.V., Tracy, A.J., Vázquez Garcia, H. (2008). An exploratory study of mixed-ancestry adolescents’ social adjustment strengths and challenges: A contextual approach. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2007). Modeling ambiguity in racial and ethnic identification among mixed ancestry adolescents: Two latent variable approaches. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

Hopper, J.W., Tracy, A.J., & Lukas, S.E. (2007). Development of a model-based self-report measure of marijuana's subjective effects: A preliminary web-based study. Poster presented at the meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

Marshall, N.L. & Tracy, A.J. (2006). Work Organization and Employed Women’s Post-Partum Health. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal, CA.

Schecter, E., Tracy, A.J., Page, K., & Luong, G. (2005). "Doing marriage": Same-sex relationship dynamics in the post-legalization period. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2004). Review of the Recent Empirical Literature on Mixed-Ancestry Youth. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

Tracy, A.J. & Sorsoli, C.L. (2004). Latent variable mixture modeling as a new tool for feminist researchers: A conceptual overview. Presented at the meeting of the International Sociological Association, Amsterdam.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2004). On the right track: Can girls’ physical activity in high school predict safer sexual outcomes in young adulthood? Paper presented at the Brown Bag Lecture Series, Murray Research Center, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2003). The role of cultural context in the effect of physical activity on girls’ sexual risk taking over time. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2003). Physical activity and girls’ sexual outcomes: The role of race/ethnicity and geography. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2002). Physical activity and girls’ sexual outcomes: The role of race/ethnicity and geography. Paper presented at the Add Health Users Workshop.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2002). Race and gender patterns in the paths from sports to self-esteem. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence.

Erkut, S. & Tracy, A.J. (2001). The link between high school sports and girls’ sexual behavior: The role of race/ethnicity and residential context. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development.

Tracy, A.J. & Erkut, S. (2001). Sports participation and self-esteem: Exploring process within gender and racial/ethnic groups. Paper presented at the Add Health Users Workshop.

Tracy, A.J. (2000). Girls’ sports participation and lower risky sexual behavior: Exploring the hows and whys. Paper presented at the Add Health Users Workshop.

Erkut, S. & Tracy, A.J. (1999). Protective effects of sports participation on girls’ sexual behavior. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association.

Statistical analyst for the following papers:

Perry, C., LeMay, N., Rodway, G., Tracy, A., & Galer, J. (2005). Validating a work group climate assessment tool for improving the performance of public health organizations. Human Resources for Health, 3. Available at http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/3/1/10.

Cramer, P. & Tracy, A. (2004). The pathway from child personality to adult adjustment: The road is not straight. Journal of Research in Personality, 39, 369-394.

Limber, S.P., Nation, M., Tracy, A.J., Melton, G.B.,  & Flerx, V. (2004). Implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention programme in the Southeastern United States. In Smith, P.K., Pepler, D., & Rigby, K. (eds.), Bullying in Schools: How Successful Can Interventions Be? Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.