Gail M. Ferguson

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Contact 309-341-7108 gmfergus@knox.edu

General Interests
"I am interested in the identity and well-being of children and adolescents across cultures. My ongoing cross-cultural research project, 'The Culture and Family Life Study' investigates the acculturation and adjustment of Jamaican immigrant adolescents and parents living in the United States as well as the impact of globalization on the cultural identity of Jamaican families in the Caribbean. Other research projects of mine have examined how Jamaican versus North American youth perceive different aspects of the self such as physical attributes, and how teenagers' views of their actual and ideal selves relate to their self-esteem and emotional well-being."

Years at Knox: 2008 to present

Education
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, 2006, Bowling Green State University.
M.A., Clinical Psychology, 2003, Bowling Green State University.
B.A., Psychology with Highest Honors, Cum Laude, 2001, Williams College.
Diploma and Head Girl, 1996, Ardenne High School, Kingston, Jamaica.

Selected Professional Accomplishments

Professional Recognition
2009 Jamaican news article featuring ongoing acculturation/immigration research project: Disenchantment in the Promised Land, December, 2009.

Role model research featured in: "Surprise! Jamaican students choose parents as primary role models." October, 2007. The Jamaica Gleaner.

Body attitudes research featured in Savacool, J. "Women's ideal bodies then and now." Marie Claire Fashion Magazine, The Body Issue, 102-110, April 2003.

Honors/Grants
Young Scholars Travel Grant from National Science Foundation (#NSF BCS-1026915) to attend preconference workshop and present data at the ISSBD Biennial Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, July, 2010.
International Travel Award from the American Psychological Association to attend and present data at the ISSBD Biennial Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, July, 2010.
Research Grant from Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NICHD, 2009.
Selected as Promising Junior Scientist to attend Inter-American Collaboration Workshop of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (ISSBD), Gramado, Brazil, 2007.
RiSE-Up Award, American Psychological Society Student Caucus, 2004. (Graduate student award for research in socially and economically disadvantaged populations)

Publications
"Tridimensional acculturation and adaptation among Jamaican adolescent-mother dyads in the United States." Ferguson, G. M., Bornstein, M. H., & Pottinger, A. M. Child Development, Special Section on children in immigrant families, (In press).

The counterintuitive psychological benefits of relational discrepancies for Jamaican adolescent-parent dyads. Journal of Research on Adolescence. Special Issue on Adolescents in the Majority World. (In press).

"Tridimensional Acculturation and Adaptation among Jamaican Adolescent-Mother Dyads in the United States." Co-authored with Bornstein, M., & Pottinger, A. Child Development, Special Section on Immigrant Families. (In press).

"Self-discrepancies" Invited essay to appear in Levesque, R. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence. Springer. (In press).

"Genetic testing likelihood: The impact of abortion views and quality of life information." Co-authored with Wilson, J., & Thorn, J. Journal of Genetic Counseling. doi: 10.1007/s10897-010-93358, 20.2 (2010): 143-156.

"Adolescent psychological and academic adjustment as a function of discrepancies between actual and ideal self-perceptions." Ferguson, G. M., Hafen, C. A., & Laursen, B.Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s10964-009-9461-5 39.12 (2009): 1485-1497.

"Self-Esteem, Skin Color and Rural/Urban Residence: Specially Annotated Methods." (in press) Co-authored with Cramer, P. To appear in L. Cook & T. Bastick (Eds.), Annotated research methods in Caribbean Research.

"Self-representations of Jamaican adolescents: Perceived parental ideal, own ideal and actual self." Co-authored with Dubow, E. F. Caribbean Journal of Psychology 2.2 (2007): 27-43.

"Gender Differences in role models and academic functioning among Jamaican high school students." Caribbean Journal of Education, Special Issue on Gender and Education 29.1 (2007): 92-125.

"Self-Esteem among Jamaican children: Exploring the impact of skin color and rural/urban residence." Co-authored with Cramer, P. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 28.4 (2007): 285-380.

"A Me Dis": A Study of Jamaican Adolescent Identity Construction Using a Graphical Measure. In R. Craven, J. Eccles, M. Trinh Ha (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Biennial SELF Research Conference. Sydney: SELF Research Center, University of Western Sydney, 2006.

"Ethnic/racial attitudes and self-identification of Black Jamaican and White New England children." Co-authored with Cramer, P. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 34.4 (2003): 395-416.

Presentations
"The influence of immigration in children and youth: Evidence from Europe, Canada and USA." Dimitrova, R. (co-chair), Ferguson, G. M. (co-chair), Gagné, M., Bornstein, M. H., & Pottinger, A. M. Symposium presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Montreal, Canada, March 2011.

"Tridimensional acculturation and adaptation among Black U.S. immigrants: The case of Jamaican mothers and Their Adolescents." Ferguson, G. M., Bornstein, M. H., & Pottinger, A. M. Paper presented in symposium, March 2011.

"Remote acculturation in the 21st century." Ferguson, G. M., & Bornstein, M. H.Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Montreal, Canada, March 2011.

"Culturally appropriate assessment of behavioral and emotional functioning in North American and Caribbean adolescents." Ferguson, G.M. (chair) & Lambert, M.C. Symposium presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Montreal, Canada, March 2011.

"Using the BACAH with Black Immigrants: Behavioral adaptation of Jamaican adolescent-mother dyads living in the United States." Paper presented in symposium, March 2011.

"Invariance of the BACAH Resilience Scale across adolescents of the African Diaspora in Jamaica and the United States." Lambert, M.C., & Ferguson, G.M. Paper presented in symposium, March 2011.

"Everyday African Americans: Leading the World in the 21st Century." 12th Annual Scholarship Dinner, Support Group for African American Affairs (SGAAA), Galesburg, IL, February, 2011.

"Parenting Jamaican Adolescents." Ardenne High School Parent Teachers' Association. Kingston, Jamaica, November, 2010.

"Acculturation and Adaptation of Jamaican Immigrant Families in the U.S." With Bornstein, M. H., & Pottinger, A. M. Poster presentation at the 21st Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (ISSBD), Lusaka, Zambia, July, 2010.

"Remote acculturation: The 'Americanization' of native Jamaican adolescents and their mothers." With Bornstein, M. H. In symposium An ecological systems theory approach to child and adolescent development. Paper presentation at the 21st Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (ISSBD), Lusaka, Zambia, July, 2010.

"Relational discrepancies in Jamaican families: Consequences of parent-adolescent differences in prioritizing family versus friends." Paper presented in symposium: Ferguson, G. M. (chair), Bakken, J. P., Nguyen, J, It takes two to tango: Parent-Adolescent interactions regarding family and peer involvement across three cultures. Symposium at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Adolescence, Philadelphia, PA, March, 2010.

"Self-Representations of Jamaican Adolescents: Actual, Ideal, and Perceived Parental Ideal." 2nd annual Caribbean Child Research Conference, Kingston, Jamaica, October 2007.

"Role Models, Gender, and Academic Achievement in Jamaica." 2nd annual Caribbean Child Research Conference, Kingston, Jamaica, October 2007.

"Actual and Ideal Identity Profiles among Jamaican Adolescents and Relations with Functioning." Poster session at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Boston, Massachusetts, March 2007.

"Gender Differences in Jamaican High School Students' Academic Achievement: Fact or Fiction?" Poster session at the annual national convention of the American Psychological Society, May, 2004.

"The 'Other' dilemma: Culturally competent helping strategies for Biracial American clients." Presented with Vasconcelles, E. Poster session at the annual convention of the Ohio Psychological Association; Columbus, Ohio, October 2004.

"Personal Strivings: Adults with Serious Mental Illness and their Parents Describe the Future." Presented with Stein, C., Hunt, M., Mann, L. Paper presented at the 1st Annual National Supported Education Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan, October 2003.

Campus & Community Involvement
Faculty Member Initiator and Co-Presenter, BE Active Sexual Violence Prevention Workshop, Knox College.
Early Career Reviewer, National Institutes of Health.
Ad-hoc Reviewer, Journal for Research on Adolescence.
Haiti Working Group, funded by Society for Research in Child Development.
Instructional Support Committee, Knox College.
Clinical/community initiative for male students featured in The Knox Student (2010). "Workshop takes initiative: Men explore the bystander effect in BE Active".
Clinical/community initiative for female students featured in The Knox Student (2010). "BE Active Workshop empowers bystanders: Women's workshop teaches students how to intervene."
Clinical/community initiative introduced in The Knox Student (2010). "BE(ing) Active in prevention: Saturday workshop focuses on bystander's power to prevent sexual assault."
Invited Board Member and Reviewer, Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
Consulting Editor, Caribbean Journal of Psychology.
Student/Early Career Council of the Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD).
Invited Speaker, Rochester Jamaican Organization (RJO) community seminar, Rochester, New York.
Invited Speaker, Caribbean Calendar community seminar, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

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What Students Say
"My Knox experience would have not been the same without Gail. She is hands down one of the most genuine and hardworking professors I have met at Knox. Gail has a real passion for the work she does-which shows both in the classroom and through her groundbreaking cross-cultural research. She especially shines in small classes, where she blends discussion with lecture so that one is on their toes and learning. Gail's classes are never easy, but she will push you to be your best!"
-Christy (Reuter) Starr, Psychology Major

"I can honestly say that I would not have had such a successful senior year without Gail's help and guidance. Not only is she incredibly smart, as she was consistently able to provide me with additional information and great suggestions about my work, but she was also there for me when I needed her to listen, support and keep me on track. Gail was able to motivate me to produce high quality work. Knox college students are lucky to have such a great professor available to them."
-Jessica Wilson, Biology and Psychology Major

"When it came time to do my senior research, I went to Gail with a complicated and logistically difficult research idea. Instead of trying to talk me out of it, Gail told me to go for it and was there for me each step of the way. Because of her own research, Gail was able to anticipate many of the problems I would run into and helped me prepare for them. Gail was even available over Winter Break when I needed her advice. It is this kind of dedication to her students that makes Gail stand out as a mentor and as a professor."
-Caitlin Collins, Psychology Major, Social Service and Gender and Women's Studies Minor

"The short description of Gail Ferguson is 'tough but fair.' She has high standards, but is dedicated to helping her students succeed. She teaches the valuable lesson of taking psychology outside the classroom and applying it to daily life. Her classes are unique in that they include cross-cultural research conducted by herself and others. She is enthusiastic not only about sharing her own work, but also about helping students find resources to investigate topics of their own interest. If you're interested in a particular question, so is Gail!"
-Erin Coleman, English Literature Major