Victoria M. Esses, Ph.D.

Victoria Esses (PhD, University of Toronto) is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations at the University of Western Ontario. She is also Co-Director of the Welcoming Communities Initiative, a province-wide consortium to study the inclusion of immigrants and minorities in small and medium-sized cities in Ontario. She has conducted research on determinants of public attitudes toward immigration and cultural diversity for close to 20 years. Her work has covered such topics as the role of perceived economic and cultural threat and competition in determining attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, the dehumanization of refugees, the framing of national identity and public attitudes toward immigration and cultural diversity, and the role of ethnic and religious prejudice in immigrant skills discounting. Dr Esses is co-editor of Social Issues and Policy Review, a new publication of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She is also on the editorial boards of Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, International Settlement Canada (INSCAN), Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Social and Personality Psychology Compass.

E-Mail: vesses@uwo.ca

Caroline Bennett-AbuAyyash, M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate

Caroline completed her B.A. (Honours) in Public Administration & Political Science at the American University of Beirut in 2000. After a number of years in human resources she started at the University of Western Ontario as a graduate student in 2004, and obtained her MSc in the summer of 2006. For her thesis, she explored the interplay between immigrant status and religious affiliation in the evaluation of foreign skills and education. As a PhD student she is exploring several areas of social psychology including group membership, skills discounting of foreign skills, and the role of values in the prediction of reactions toward immigrants & immigration. She is also part of the Collaborative Graduate Program in Migration & Ethnic Relations.

Website: http://publish.uwo.ca/~cabuayya/
E-Mail: cabuayya@uwo.ca

Leah Hamilton, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate

Leah completed her M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the University of Guelph. Her master’s research focused on prejudice and discrimination against gay men in an organizational context. In 2006 she began her doctorate at the University of Western Ontario where she continues to research social justice issues in the workplace. For her dissertation she is investigating the experience of underemployment among skilled immigrants in Canada.

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/leahkhamilton/home
E-Mail: lhamil2@uwo.ca

Paula Brochu, M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate

Paula Brochu received her B.A. Honours in Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan in 2005 and her M.Sc. in Social Psychology from the University of Western Ontario in 2007. She is now in the third year of her Ph.D. Paula’s research interests lie in the realm of intergroup relations, prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination, social cognition, stigma, and weight bias. She is particularly interested in the processes underlying the expression of prejudice and the consequences of prejudice on its targets.

Website: http://publish.uwo.ca/~pbrochu2/
E-Mail: pbrochu2@uwo.ca

Karen Dickson, MASP, Ph.D. Candidate

Karen Dickson received her B.Sc. (Honours) in Psychology in 2005 and her Masters of Applied Social Psychology in 2007 from Memorial University of Newfoundland. She then worked conducting research in the area of continuing medical education. She began her PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Western Ontario in 2008. Karen’s research interests are in the area of intergroup relations and prejudice. Specifically, for her thesis she is examining how intergroup contact on the internet can be used to reduce homophobia.

E-Mail: kdickso6@uwo.ca

Stelian Medianu, B.A., M.Sc. Candidate

Stelian is a second year M.Sc. student in the Social Psychology program at the University of Western Ontario. He completed his B.A. in Psychology at the University of British Columbia in 2008. Stelian’s research interests are currently in the area of inter-group relations, prejudice, discrimination and dehumanization with a particular emphasis on immigrants and refugees.

E-Mail: smedianu@uwo.ca

Tasha Williamson

Website: To be announced
E-Mail: twilli7@uwo.ca

Carolyn Camman

E-Mail: ccamman@uwo.ca

Shelby Corriveau

Topic of Research: The effect of perceived group competition on hiring discrimination against immigrants

E-Mail: scorriv@uwo.ca

Xiyu Shi

Topic of Research: Aversive racism in employment termination decisions

E-Mail: xshi29@uwo.ca

Muna Al-Katib

Jade Allen

Lisa Bitacola

Tanaz Javan

Rena Kauldhar

Carly O'Shea

Katie Poon

Lindsay Starostra