Former Associate Director
Senior Research Scientist

Gender, Race, and Inclusive Education Research Initiative

Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D.

 Associate Director
 Jean Baker Miller Training Institute

Linda M. Hartling was the Associate Director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMTI) at the Wellesley Centers for Women until 2009. The JBMTI is dedicated to exploring and advancing the practice of the Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT), a groundbreaking model of growth that puts relationships at the center of psychological development, recognizing that relationships are highly influenced by culture and the dynamics of power.

Dr. Hartling holds a doctoral degree in clinical/community psychology and has written papers on resilience, substance abuse prevention, shame and humiliation, appreciative inquiry, relational practice in the workplace, and developments in RCT. Building on the work of Jean Baker Miller and the scholars of the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies, now a part of the Wellesley Centers for Women, Dr. Hartling explores the specific qualities of relating that encourage growth and examines the operations of power that prevent individuals from participating in these types of relationships. She is co-editor of The Complexity of Connection: Writings from the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Stone Center (2004), and she has supervised the publication of over 40 Stone Center Working Papers, project reports, training videos, and home study programs.

One of Dr. Hartling’s special areas of interest is the study of humiliation. In 2004, she joined the board of directors for Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS; humiliationstudies.org), a global network of scholars, researchers, and activists dedicated to ending cycles of humiliation that contribute to psychological problems as well as interpersonal and international conflict. She has co-convened and facilitated annual international meetings of HumanDHS in Paris at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, in Berlin at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, in Costa Rica at the UN University for Peace, and in New York at Columbia University. She is on the academic board of the Journal of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, an e-journal that will be launched in March 2007. In addition, she is the developer of Humiliation Inventory, a scale to assess the internal experience of derision and degradation. In one of her most recent presentations, “Humiliation: Real Pain, a Pathway to Violence,” she described social and neurobiological pathways linking humiliation, social pain, and violence. Dr. Hartling strives to expand applications of RCT in the real world. For example, Dr. Hartling suggests, “It’s helpful to conceptualize human dignity as a co-created experience, rather than as an individual, internal phenomena. We encourage dignity in others whenever we build mutually respectful connections in which people feel known and valued, they feel that they matter. RCT encourages the construction of this relational experience for all people.”

Anne Noonan, Ph.D. 

Work published elsewhere

Noonan, A.E., Hall, G., & Blustein, D. (in review). Certain connections: The impact of social class differences on relational health among urban high school students and work supervisors.

Noonan, A.E., Hall, G., Hernandez, D., & LaTerz, J. (in review). Double messages: Guiding school-to-career participants through social class differences at work.

Noonan, A.E. (2005). "At this point now": Older workers' reflections on their current work experiences. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 61, 211-241.

Marshall, N.L., Noonan, A.E., McCartney, K., Marx, F., & Keefe, N. (2001). It takes an urban village: Parenting networks of urban families. Journal of Family Issues, 22, 163-182.

Noonan, A.E., Tennstedt, S.L., & Rebelsky, F.G. (1999). Getting to the point?: Family caregivers and the nursing home decision. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 31, 5-27.

Chang, B., Noonan, A.E., & Tennstedt, S.L. (1998). The role of religion/spirituality in coping with caregiving for disabled elders. The Gerontologist, 38, 463-470.

Noonan, A.E., & Tennstedt, S.L. (1997). Meaning in caregiving and its contributions to caregiver wellbeing. The Gerontologist, 37, 785-794.

Noonan, A.E., Tennstedt, S.L., & Rebelsky, F.G. (1996). Making the best of it: Themes of meaning among informal caregivers to the elderly. Journal of Aging Studies, 10, 313-327.

Fern Marx, MHSM

Work published elsewhere

Jean Baker Miller, M.D.

Noted Feminist, Psychoanalyst, Social Activist; 1927-2006

Founding Director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and a clinical professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Served as the first director of the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies, now a part of WCW, from 1981 to 1984.

A practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst for over 40 years, Dr. Miller was the author of Toward a New Psychology of Women (Boston, Beacon Press, 1976), a book which has become a classic in its field and about which a Boston Globe review said: "This small book may do more to suggest the range and scope of female possibilities than anything since Women's Suffrage." The book has been translated into 20 languages and was reissued in a second edition in 1987. A newer book, The Healing Connection (Boston, Beacon Press, 1997) co-authored with Irene Stiver, Ph.D., continues and expands this work. Dr. Miller was also co-author of Women's Growth in Connection (Guildford Press, 1991) and editor of Psychoanalysis and Women (New York, Brunner-Mazel and Penguin Books, 1973) and of numerous papers in professional journals on the psychology of women, depression and studies of dreams. She has been a consultant, leader, and member of several women's groups.

Dr. Miller received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1948, her M.D. from Columbia University in 1952 and her certification in psychoanalysis from New York Medical College in 1959. She also hold honorary degrees of Doctor of Human Letters from Brandeis University (1987) and Doctor Honoris Causa from Regis College (1995). She received her psychiatry training at Bellevue Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, both in New York City and at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.

Dr. Miller was a member of numerous professional societies, including the American College Psychiatrists, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Orthopsychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.

Since 1981, Dr. Miller had been Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine. She was also on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Associate Psychiatrist at Beth Israel Hospital. Prior to these positions, she was a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. In 1972-73, Dr. Miller was a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics, and at the Tavistock Institute and Clinic in London.

Fern Marx, MHSM

Feminist and Senior Research Scientist, 1935-2006

Fern Marx was a senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women, where she had been for the past 17 years. She was one of the core team and author of the AAUW’s (American Association of University Women) study How Schools Shortchange Girls. Marx conducted the first study of alumnae of Agnes Scott College’s Irene K. Woodruff Return to School program for non-traditional age students on the occasion of the program's 25th anniversary and recently completed the evaluation of a unique program in the greater Boston area, Women Involved in Community Development, which supports low-income women in completing their undergraduate education. Marx was also a co-principal investigator of Raising Confident and Competent Girls project, which works with middle school teachers and administrators, parents, and youth service providers to improve classroom and program climate and address issues of gender equity and adolescent development.

She was principal investigator of a six-year study of the Women Involved in Living and Learning program (WILL) at the University of Richmond. This is a unique program focusing on leadership development and creating a single sex experience at a coeducational university. She was principal investigator of the Jacksonville Afterschool Experiences project, a three and a half-year study of after-school programs serving elementary and middle school students in public schools and community agencies in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition, she was the evaluator of several violence prevention programs for young adolescents: Girl's, Inc.'s Project BOLD and Wellesley's Girl's LEAP. Marx was also co-principal investigator of two National Science Foundation funded projects encouraging girls to consider careers in engineering and computers (Hear Our Voices and Women in Engineering). Over the years, her applied evaluation work included national and local studies of afterschool care programs, programs for pregnant and parenting teens, and programs designed to provide training for low-income women.

Fern Marx's WCW publications:

Marx, F., Erkut, S., Fields, J.P. & Clayton, J. B. (2000). Raising Confident and Competent Girls: How Middle Schools Can Support Girls.Facilitator’s Manual. CRW 26. Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F. (2000). Agnes Scott College Return to College Program: Report on the 1999 Alumnae Survey. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Erkut, S., Marx, F., Fields, J.P. & Sing, R. (1998) Raising Confident and Competent Girls: Implications of Diversity. Working Paper 289. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Erkut, S. & Marx, F. (1995) Raising Competent Girls: An Exploratory Study of Diversity in Girls' Views on Liking One's Self. Special Report (CRW 10) of the Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Gannett, E. & Marx, F. (1993) The Public School Involvement in School-Age Child Care Project. Final Report. School-Age Child Care Project Wellesley Centers for Women and National Association of Elementary School Principals. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F. (1994) Professional Development Survey Results. Final Report. NASACCA Professional Development Committee & School-Age Child Care Project, Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F., & Seligson, M. (1991) Final Report on A Study of Hawaii After School (A+) Program. Prepared for the Hawaii Department of Education. School-Age Child Care Project, Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F., & Seligson, M. (1991) Final Report on a Study of Publicly Funded School-Age Child Care Programs in the City of Chicago. Prepared for the Chicago Department of Human Services. School-Age Child Care Project, Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F. (1991) Learning Together: A Supplement to the National Directory of Teen Parenting and Child Care Programs. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Miller, B. & Marx, F. (1990) Afterschool Arrangements in Middle Childhood: A Review of the Literature. Report No. 58. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F. (1990) Learning Together: Proceedings of the National Conference of Teen Parenting and Child Care Programs April, 1990. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F. (1990) School Age Child Care in America: Final Report of A National Provider Survey. Working Paper, No. 204. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F., (1989) After School Programs for Low-Income Young Adolescents: Overview and Program Profiles. Working Paper No.194. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Francis, J. & Marx, F. (1989) Learning Together: A National Directory of Teen Parenting and Child Care Programs. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F., Bailey, S. & Francis, J. (1988) Child Care for the Children of Adolescent Parents: Findings from a National Survey and Case Studies.Working Paper, No. 184. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marshall, N., Witte, A, Nichols, L., Marx, F., & Colten, M (1988) The Child Day Care Affordability Study: Technical Report. Working Paper, No. 181. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Marx, F. (1987) The Role of Day Care in Serving the Needs of School-Age Parents and Their Children: A Review of the Literature. Working Paper, No. 174. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.

Senior Research Scientist

Family, Sexuality, and Communication Research Initiative

Senior Scholar

Senior Research Scientist

Director, Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab

Michelle V. Porche

Senior Research Scientist

Ed.D, Harvard University
mporche@wellesley[dot]edu

Studies academic achievement for young children and adolescents, examining implications and factors related to gender, race/ethnicity, mental health and other social-emotional influences

Michelle V. Porche, Ed.D., was a senior research scientist and former associate director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, studying academic achievement for young children and adolescents. In her investigations of achievement, the role of gender and social-emotional factors, including childhood adversity, play a major part in her work. Her primary goal is to integrate research and practice in ways that contribute to programs and interventions that foster academic achievement for children from low-income families.

Anne E. Noonan, Ph.D.

Dr. Noonan was a Research Scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women until 2007. She is a lifespan developmental psychologist interested in the psychological and social development of people of all ages. Her specific research interests included: the experience of formal and informal social relationships, the subjective aspects of social class, and the psychological aspects of paid employment and economic opportunity.

Dr. Noonan was Principal Investigator of a National Science Foundation study examining science and math education experiences among urban high school students, with a particular emphasis on how relationships in all areas of their lives support or thwart their persistence and success in these subjects. In previous work, she studied diverse populations such as: older workers; informal caregivers to frail elders; adolescent substance abusers in publicly funded treatment; same-sex couples; urban high school students in school-to-work programs; school-age children and their out-of-school time; and young children in a variety of care settings. She has also worked in the area of refugee and immigrant services. Dr. Noonan received her Master's and Doctoral degrees in psychology from Boston University, and a B.A. in psychology from Framingham State College.


WCW Publications:

Noonan, A.E., & Senghas, C. (2006). "Goin' to the Chapel?": Same-Sex Couples Religious/Spiritual Perspectives on Legalized Marriage. In Wellesley College Center for Research on Women Working Paper 422, Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Noonan, A.E. (2005). "Work, life and social class: A life-span perspective." Research and Action Report, 26 (Fall/Winter). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Noonan, A.E. (2003). Social relations at work: The beliefs and experiences of older workers. Wellesley College Center for Research on Women Working Paper 406. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Noonan, A.E. (2001). Relational resources and older adults. Wellesley College Center for Research on Women Working Paper 401. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.

Noonan, A.E. (2001). From contrast to concrete: Building a skilled and stable workforce in the field of out-of-school time. Wellesley, MA: National Institute on Out of School Time.

Senior Scholar

Interim Executive Director
Senior Research Scientist

Director, National Institute on Out-of-School Time

Elissa Koff, Ph.D.

Faculty Research Scholar

Elissa Koff is the Margaret Hamm Professor of Psychology at Wellesley College. She teaches courses concerned with the relationship between brain and behavior (Biological Psychology, Drugs and Behavior), and conducts research in two areas: female development and the neuropsychology of emotion. Much of her research on female development has focused on early adolescent girls, and was conducted at the Wellesley Centers for Women, in collaboration with Dr. Jill Rierdan. The bulk of this work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, as well as by grants from Wellesley College.

Dr. Koff is particularly interested in the development of body image; the effects of puberty and menarche (the onset of menstruation) on body image; the relationship of body image, pubertal status, and the development of eating disorders and depression; and other factors that might place girls at risk for developing negative body image and disordered eating- and weight-related attitudes and behaviors.

At the Wellesley Centers for Women, she studied body image and psychosocial functioning in a cross-cultural context, in collaboration with several Wellesley students. She also collaborated on a grant from the National Institute on Aging on the processing of emotion in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and was a consultant to a project known as the “Bones Project” (Beat Osteoporosis: Nourish and Exercise Skeletons), which is seeking to develop interventions to maximize bone accretion and muscular strength in 1st and 2nd grade children. She collaborated with Dr. Nancy Genero, also of the Psychology Department at Wellesley, on psychological acculturation in 7th and 8th grade Hispanic and Brazilian girls in a Framingham middle school. Among the aims of this study was the documentation of the extent of acculturation stress in these girls, and the identification of factors that either protect against, or increase the risk of, acculturation stress.

Jean Hardisty, Ph.D.

Senior Scholar

Jean Hardisty was the founder and president emerita of Political Research Associates (PRA), a Boston-based research center that analyzes right wing, authoritarian, and anti-democratic trends and publishes educational materials for the general public. A political scientist with a B.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University, she left academia after eight years of teaching and researching conservative political thought to establish PRA in response to the emergence of the New Right in 1981. After 23 years, she retired from PRA in 2004 and served as a senior scholar with the Wellesley Centers for Women until her death in March 2015.

Dr. Hardisty was a widely published author and an activist for social justice issues, especially women's rights and civil rights, for nearly four decades. She served on the Board of Directors of the Highlander Center for Research and Education, the Ms. Foundation, the Center for Community Change. and the Center for Women Policy Studies. Her book, Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers, first published by Beacon Press in 1999, is available in paperback. Her most recent work, on race and child care in Mississippi, is on the WCW website.

Senior Scholar

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.

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.

Former Associate Director
Director Emerita

Work, Families, & Children Research Group

Senior Research Scientist

Work, Families, & Children Research Group

Nidhiya Menon, Ph.D.

Senior Research Scientist

Nidhiya Menon is an Associate Professor of Economics at Brandeis University, and was on sabbatical at Wellesley Centers for Women for the 2010-2011 academic year. She is an empirical development economist who has worked on labor and gender-related topics in several countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan), East Asia (Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia), and more recently, Africa (Kenya). Additionally, her areas of expertise include program evaluation, risk analysis, and implementation of unconventional financing schemes such as micro-finance. Her research and publications span topics in development economics, labor, and economic demography. Some of her recent work considered how the global recession has affected labor market outcomes for men and women differently, and how female-owned firms in Kenya use technology to overcome regulatory obstacles. She has been a researcher at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, and is currently a consultant with the World Bank. She is also a Research Fellow at IZA. She holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Mount Holyoke College, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Brown University.


Publications/Forthcoming in Refereed Journals:

“How Access to Credit Affects Self-Employment: Differences by Gender during India’s Rural Banking Reform,” with Yana Rodgers. Journal of Development Studies, forthcoming.

“Investment Credit and Child Labor,” Applied Economics, 2010, 42(12), 1461-1479.

“Public Programs Pare Poverty: Evidence from Chile,” with David Glick. Bulletin of Economic Research, 2009, 61(3), 249-282.

“International Trade and the Gender Wage Gap: New Evidence from India’s Manufacturing Sector,” with Yana Rodgers. World Development, 2009, 37(5), 965-981.

“Rainfall Uncertainty and Occupational Choice in Agricultural Households of Rural Nepal,” Journal of Development Studies, 2009, 45(6), 864-888.

“Learning, Diversification, and the Nature of Risk,” with Narayanan Subramanian. Economic Theory, 2008, 35(1), 117-145.

“The Relationship between Labor Unionization and the Number of Working Children in India,” Indian Economic Journal, 2007, 54(3), 133-151.

“Labor Conflicts and Foreign Investments: An Analysis of FDI in India,” with Paroma Sanyal. Review of Development Economics, 2007, 11(4), 629-644.

“Inter-dependencies in Micro-Credit Groups: Evidence from Repayment Data.” Journal of Developing Areas, 2007, 40(2), 111-132.

“Long Term Benefits of Membership in Microfinance Programs,” Journal of International Development, 2006, 18, 571-594.

“Non-Linearities in Returns to Participation in Grameen Bank Programs.” Journal of Development Studies, 2006, 42(8), 1379-1400.

“Labor Disputes and the Economics of Firm Geography: A Study of Domestic Investment in India,” with Paroma Sanyal. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2005, 53(4), 825-854.

Chapters and Articles in Edited Volumes:

“Trade Policy Liberalization and Gender Equality in the Labor Market: New Evidence for India,” Rutgers University World Affairs Review, Fall 2008, Issue 3, pp. 1-25 (with Yana Rodgers).

“Gender Inequality in the Labor Market During Economic Transition: Changes in India’s Manufacturing Sector,” in Ravi Kanbur and Jan Svejnar (eds.), Labor Markets and Economic Development. London and New York: Routledge Press, 2009, pp. 341-363 (with Yana Rodgers).

Working Papers:

“Gender and Conflict in Nepal: Testing for “Added Worker” Effects,” with Yana Rodgers. June 2010.

“Impact of the Food, Fuel, and Financial Crisis on the Philippine Labor Market,” with Yana Rodgers. August 2010.

“Spatial Decentralization and Program Evaluation: Theory and an Example from Indonesia,” with Mark Pitt. August 2010.

“Using Technology to Overcome Regulatory Obstacles in Africa: Evidence from Firms with Female Principal Owners in Kenya.” August 2010.

Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Ph.D.

Senior Scholar

Outrageous Older Woman Ruth Harriet Jacobs, 1924-2013

Ruth Harriet Jacobs joined the Center for Research on Women at the Wellesley Centers for Women in 1979. She was a professor of sociology at Boston University, chair of the sociology department at Clark University, and a distinguished visiting professor at the College of William and Mary.

Dr. Jacobs has given many talks in low-income elder housing throughout the state of Massachusetts under sponsorship of the Tenants Assistance Program of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. The majority of her audiences are women, as women have longer lives and older women are among the poorest Americans. Her talks, Aging Outrageously and Courageously, the ABCs of Aging, and Women After Eighty: Reflecting, Advocating, Living Fully, featured advice on self care and the elderly getting the help they need.

Dr. Jacobs has also spoken throughout New England and the country at senior centers, continuing care communities, assisted living facilities, Red Hat Society meetings, and to professionals in the field of aging as requested. In addition to her presentations on aging, she has also taught memoir writing as a creative way to put our lives in perspective. She is the author of nine books including Be an Outrageous Older Woman, published by Harper Collins, and ABCs for Seniors: Successful Aging Wisdom from an Outrageous Gerontologist, published in 2006 by Hatala Geroproducts.

She taught in the Lifetime Learning programs at Brandeis University and Regis College, and Continuing Education Unit classes for psychologists, nurses, physicians, social workers, and others who care for elders. In addition to her nine books, she has contributed many chapters and articles to anthologies and professional and literary journals. Her play, Happy Birthday, read from scripts and cast from audiences, is distributed by the Wellesley Centers for Women. She has been awarded grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, the U.S. Department of Education, and many non-government foundations and agencies. Dr. Jacobs has received numerous awards, including one for mentoring, and has been given residence at artists' colonies. Dr. Jacobs received a B.S. from Boston University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University.

Nancy L. Mullin, M.Ed.

Research Scientist

Nancy Mullin served as the director of both the Project on Teasing and Bullying (2000-2008) and the Preschool Empathy Project (1998-2008). Since she joined the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) in 1990, she was actively involved in projects concerned with curriculum development, teacher training, consultation and research.

Prior to joining WCW, Ms. Mullin coordinated Child Care Information and Referral services at the Child Care Resource Center in Cambridge, MA and has worked in various educational and hospital-based elementary and early childhood special education settings as teacher, trainer, consultant, advocate, and member of infant and child assessment teams.

While at WCW, Ms. Mullin conducted research-based training and consultation about bullying prevention nationally. Her work focused on bringing research and best practices about bullying prevention into schools and promotes awareness about the negative effects that bullying and related gender role stereotypes have on both school climate and student performance. Her bullying-prevention work includes several publications: Quit It!: A Teacher's Guide on Teasing and Bullying for Use With Students in Grades K-3 (1998); Selected Bibliography About Teasing and Bullying for Grades K-8: Revised and Expanded Edition (2003) and Relational Aggression and Bullying: It’s More Than Just A Girl Thing (2003).

Ms. Mullin is also a Training Director for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Group, providing national training-of-trainers in North America, training and support for state-wide networks, and training and implementation support to schools in New England. As a founding member of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Group in North America, she is also actively involved in expanding and developing materials that help to operationalize the Olweus model for US and North American Schools.

As Director of the Preschool Empathy Project, Ms. Mullin provided training, consultation, and curriculum development for early childhood caregivers. She co-authored a pilot program to teach empathy in center and home-based preschool settings and developed a revised curriculum-guide based on this work. Her work on this project both informed and integrated her efforts in the field of bullying prevention.

Ms. Mullin received a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education from Slippery Rock University and received a full fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh, where she received a M.Ed. in Special Education and Rehabilitation, specializing in Early Childhood Education.

Senior Research Scientist

Preventing Sexual Violence in Schools Research Initiative

Katherine E. Morrison, Ph.D.

Dr. Katherine Elizabeth Morrison was a postdoctoral research associate and public health researcher at the Wellesley Centers for Women from 2002-2007. She dedicates her career to exploring the impact of violence against women in communities of color and finding methods for preventing violence against women.

Dr. Morrison began her career in 1999 as a doctoral student at the Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. During this time, Dr. Morrison had the good fortune of working with women who were victimized in abusive relationships and listening to the multitude of stories that these courageous women had to share. It was during this time that she became exceptionally mindful of the devastating impact of violence on the physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being of women who had been abused by the men who claimed to love them. As a result of these stories and many other stories of misogyny, Dr. Morrison chose to become involved in the ongoing fight to stop violence against women.

As a public health researcher, Dr. Morrison strove to discover innovative methods of preventing intimate partner and sexual violence within the African-American community. She also had interests in the empowerment of women and girls, community-based education, cultural sensitivity and competency among service organizations, the influence of legal processes on women of color in child custody cases, and human rights as it relates to violence against women.

Further, Dr. Morrison had designed rigorous research that has allowed the “voices” of victimized women to be represented in scientific and community-based literature. She has spoken to a number of women about their experiences with intimate partner and sexual violence and has presented her findings to a number of different organizations in an effort to enhance the audiences’ understanding of the challenges that women of color face when they are involved in abusive relationships. A strong interest of Dr. Morrison’s was exploring the concept known as the ‘Strong Black Woman’ and its influences on the help-giving behavior of service providers as well as the help-seeking behavior of African-American victims of abuse.

In addition, Dr. Morrison was the director of the Women’s Insights about Violence Project, a research study designed to explore the experiences of victimized women who represent different racial and ethnic groups. She authored several publications including a preventive handbook entitled "Talkin’ and Testifyin’: African-American Women Talk about Domestic Violence" that was distributed to Boston-area community-based organizations. A sought-after speaker, Dr. Morrison has been invited to present her work at organizations such as the Boston Public Health Commission and the Father Friendly Initiative (Boston, MA) as well as to different scholarly groups at Northeastern University, Boston University, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Morrison has also given lectures at various regional and national conferences including the American Public Health Association and the Association for Women in Psychology.

Finally, Dr. Morrison has been the recipient of several honors including the Malcolm J. Dantzler award from the South Carolina Public Health Association and the American Public Health Association’s Delta Omega award for outstanding research. In addition, Morrison was privileged to be one of the few recipients to simultaneously receive both the Norman J. Arnold Outstanding Abstract Award and the Delta Omega Outstanding Abstract Award at the South Carolina Public Health Association’s annual meeting.

Senior Strategist

National Institute on Out-of-School Time

Amy Hoffman

Editor in Chief, Women's Review of Books

M.F.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
ahoffman@wellesley[dot]edu
Link to website

Former editor of Women’s Review of Books, providing unique perspectives on literary landscape with reviews of books by and about women.

For more than a dozen years, until winter 2018, Amy Hoffman was editor in chief of the Women’s Review of Books (WRB), which is published by the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) at Wellesley College, in collaboration with Old City Publishing in Philadelphia, PA. She is a member of the creative nonfiction faculty at Pine Manor College's MFA program. A writer and community activist, she has been an editor at Gay Community News (GCN), South End Press, and the Unitarian Universalist World magazine. Hoffman is the author of three memoirs -- Lies about My Family; An Army of Ex-Lovers: My Life at the Gay Community News; and Hospital Time.

Allison J. Tracy

Methodologist and Senior Research Scientist

B.A., Humboldt State University; M.S. and Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
atracy@wellesley[dot]edu

Specialized in latent variable and longitudinal modeling; collaborated with researchers at WCW, Wellesley College, and other institutions; occasional instructor of advanced workshops in methodology and guest lecturer.

Allison Tracy has over 15 years of experience providing methodological and statistical consultation for researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, research topics, and institutions – academic, applied, and commercial. Her approach to consulting is to translate researchers’ articulated research questions and hypotheses into statistical models and to translate results of these models back into plain English that can be understood by individuals both within and outside academia.

She has technical expertise in a wide range of statistical techniques used in the social sciences, including structural equation modeling, confirmatory factor analysis and MIMIC approaches to measurement, path modeling, regression analysis (e.g., linear, logistic, Poisson), latent class analysis, hierarchical linear models (including growth curve modeling), latent transition analysis, mixture modeling, item response theory, as well as more commonly used techniques drawing from classical test theory (e.g., reliability analysis through Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory factor analysis, uni- and multivariate regression, correlation, ANOVA, etc). She also has expertise in missing data analysis and power analysis. She has a strong background in program evaluation and measurement development. She is currently expanding her expertise to include Rasch modeling and Generalizability Theory approaches to measurement.

Susan McGee Bailey, Ph.D.

Executive Director

(1985-2010)

Susan McGee Bailey retired at the end of 2010 as the executive director of the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College and a professor of Women's & Gender Studies and Education at Wellesley College, after 25 years leading the premier research-and-action organization.

She was executive director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women from 1985 until 1995, when the Center and the Stone Center for Developmental Studies at Wellesley College merged to become a single organization--the Wellesley Centers for Women.

Dr. Bailey received a B.A. from Wellesley College and M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Science Educational Research from the University of Michigan. She was awarded both a University fellowship and a social science educational training fellowship while in graduate school and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in public health at Johns Hopkins University. Before joining the Wellesley Centers for Women, she directed the Resource Center on Educational Equity at the Council of Chief State School Officers in Washington, D.C., the Policy Research Office on Women's Education at Harvard and Radcliffe, and held various posts at the Connecticut State Education Agency. She has taught elementary and secondary school in the United States, Asia, and Latin America.

Dr. Bailey has written and lectured extensively on issues of gender equitable public policy with a particular emphasis on education. She was the principal author of the 1992 AAUW Report: How Schools Shortchange Girls. Following the NGO Forum at the Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing, China, she coauthored a guide for junior and senior high school teachers, Shaping a Better World: Global Issues/Gender Issues. Her most recent publication, Unsafe Schools: A Literature Review of School-Related Gender-Based Violence in Developing Countries, is available here in PDF format. Among her honors and awards are the Activist/Policy Award from the Women Educators of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Abigail Adams Award from the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus. She has also received the Award for Leadership from the SIG Research on Women’s Education (AERA) and the Willystine Goodsell Award for contributions to research on women in education (AERA).

Involved in a variety of professional activities, she currently sits on the board of the National Centers on Sexuality at San Francisco State University and has served as a Trustee of Regis College, and as an advisory board member of the National Women's History Project. She was president of the board of the National Council for Research on Women, and chair of the AERA Special Interest Group: Research on Women in Education. She has served in a variety of capacities with community organizations addressing the needs of disabled children.

Monica Ghosh Driggers, J.D.

Director, Studies of Gender Policy in U.S. Jurisprudence

Staff at the Wellesley Centers for Women conducts research on a variety of issues that affect women, children, and families. However, we do not provide direct care, legal advice, or referrals. If you are in need of services ranging from emergency intervention to legal advocacy please consult the list of resources at www.wcwonline.org/resourcesforhelp.

Monica Ghosh Driggers is an attorney and researcher and focused her career on reforming the way that justice is delivered and administered in the United States. She left the Wellesley Centers for Women in 2013 after a decade as a research scientist here. Although the court system is an integral part of American life, very few people study how the courts operate and what can be done to improve court operations. Even fewer people focus on how judges and other justice practitioners affect the lives of women, girls, and children.

The pressing need for court and criminal justice reform must be supported by strong research that not only gathers basic statistical information, but also evaluates the efficacy of new practices. Monica’s past projects at WCW started with the examination of a particular justice-related problem such as how the genders are treated both similarly and differently in court proceedings. She then documented and researched the problem and, based on analysis of the results, proposed new policies that could combat the problem and instill meaningful reform.

Prior to becoming director of Studies of Gender Policy in U.S. Jurisprudence, she served as director of the Gender and Justice Project. Previously, Monica served as the Policy Director for the Women’s Rights Network (WRN) at the Wellesley Centers for Women. She co-authored WRN’s influential report, Battered Mothers Speak Out: A Human Rights Report on Child Custody and Domestic Violence in the Massachusetts State Courts, and examined how court personnel understand and treat women who suffer post-separation violence and seek custody of their children.

Collectively, her work aimed to examine the status of gender bias in justice systems throughout the United States. Awareness of how gender plays a role in justice has gained attention in recent years, spurring several state court systems to study the role of gender in judicial proceedings and court case outcomes.

Prior to joining WRN, Monica served as a Senior Policy Analyst for the Supreme Court of California, Administrative Office of the Courts, specializing in alternative and therapeutic courts such as drug courts, domestic violence courts, and youth courts. She spent four years successfully developing policy strategies to help the courts accomplish their reform-oriented initiatives, ending in a large statewide funding program for alternative courts, an evaluation project for these courts, and a Supreme Court committee dedicated to supporting and creating courts that value collaboration and community involvement.

In doing her work, Monica has had the good fortune to collaborate with a wide variety of organizations such as justice research institutes, academic institutions, non-profit legal service providers, and advocacy groups. She holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, and an A.B. in Legal History from the University of Chicago.

Senior Research Scientist

Director, Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative