Dawn Marie Szymanski (born 1967) is an American psychologist. She is a

Full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

and Editor-In-Chief of the Society for the Psychology of Women's (Division 35 of the American Psychological Association) journal, ''

Psychology of Women Quarterly ''Psychology of Women Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the fields of psychology and women's studies, focusing on the psychological health of women. The journal's editor is Dawn M. Szymanski, PhD (University of T ...

.''

Early life and education

Szymanski was born in 1967. She earned her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1989 with a double major in Psychology and Sociology from

State University of New York at Fredonia The State University of New York at Fredonia (alternatively SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia State, or Fredonia) is a public university in Fredonia, New York. It is the westernmost member of the State University of New York. Founded in 1826, it is the six ...

. From there, Szymanski enrolled at

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

for her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

for her PhD in Counseling Psychology.

Career

Upon receiving her PhD, Szymanski became an

Adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

at Georgia School of Professional Psychology at

Argosy University Argosy University was a private for-profit university with campuses throughout the United States owned by Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), LLC and Education Management Corporation. On February 27, 2019, the U.S. Department of Educat ...

. She left after one year to accept an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

position at the

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a Public university, public research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located ...

. While working in their community counseling program, Szymanski authored ''Relationship quality and domestic violence in women's same-sex relationships: The role of minority stress'' and ''Does Internalized Heterosexism Moderate the Link Between Heterosexist Events and Lesbians' Psychological Distress?'' As a result of her research, she received three Psychotherapy with Women awards from the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

in 1999, 2002, and 2005. At the beginning of the 2006 academic year, Szymanski left the University of Missouri–St. Louis to accept an assistant professor and Interim Co-Director position in the

University of Tennessee-Knoxville The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1794, two years before Te ...

's (UTK) department of psychology. During her tenure at UTK, Szymanski's research focused on developing multicultural-feminist counseling psychology theories and the impact of external and

internalized oppression In social justice theory, internalized oppression is the resignation by members of an oppressed group to the methods of an oppressing group and their incorporation of its message against their own best interest. Rosenwasser (2002) defines it as b ...

on psychosocial health. In 2009, she received UK's 2009 Chancellor's Honors LGBT Ally Research Award and

(APA) Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology Award. Szymanski was also appointed a consulting editor for the ''

'' (PWQ) and eventually promoted to associate editor. Szymanski was promoted to a tenured

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

in UTK's Department of Psychology in 2010 and earned their Angie Warren Perkins Award. She was also elected a fellow of the APA's Division 44, the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues. Following her promotion, Szymanski received the APA's Outstanding Major Contribution Award in the Counseling Psychologist for Sexual Objectification of Women for 2012 and was elected the APA's Woman of the Year. At the beginning of 2015, Szymanski began to focus on

Breastaurant A breastaurant is a restaurant that requires female waiting staff to be dressed skimpily. The term dates from the early 1990s after restaurant chain Hooters opened in the United States. The format has since been adopted by other restaurants, inc ...

s, sexually objectifying environments, and their long-term impact on women's mental and physical health. She co-wrote an article on ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...

'' which detailed the link between negative aspects of waitressing at breastaurants and negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, sadness, depressed mood, confusion, and degradation. This led to the publication of a study in 2017 titled ''Sexually Objectifying Environments: Power, Rumination, and Waitresses’ Anxiety and Disordered Eating.'' Along with co-author Renee Mikorski, Szymanski found that women who work in breastaurants are at higher risk for anxiety and eating disorders. As a result of her "outstanding contributions in advancing lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women's psychology through research, teaching, practice, and/or activism," she received the APA's 2017 Laura Brown Award. In 2019, Szymanski was appointed the Editor-In-Chief of the Society for the Psychology of Women's (Division 35 of the American Psychological Association) journal, Psychology of Women Quarterly.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szymanski, Dawn M. 1967 births Living people University of Tennessee faculty University of Missouri–St. Louis faculty State University of New York at Fredonia alumni Indiana State University alumni Georgia State University alumni American academic journal editors American feminist writers