To start off, say a little about yourself, your interests, undergraduate degree and what you are doing now. “Hello, readers! My name is Jennifer McWilliams and I am currently in my third year of the MA/PhD Experimental Psychology program at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). I am co-supervised by Drs. Carmen Poulin (UNB) and Lynne Gouliquer (Laurentian University). 

My academic/research interests include the psycho-social impact of social and cultural practices on the daily lives of marginalized populations and women in men-domi­nated occupations, as well as the effects of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination on Black women and men. My non-academic/research interests include listening to music, learning new languages (currently working on French and Japanese in my *spare* time), volunteering for various organizations and groups (e.g., Queens County Heritage, Psi Chi), and spending time with my cat, Casper, and partner, Steve.

I received my Bachelor of Science, with First Class Honours in Psychology, from UNB in May 2016. For my Honours project, Dr. Ryan Hamilton and I worked on a study that investigated whether the embodiment of specific facial expressions (i.e., smiling, grimacing, or a neutral facial expression) influenced participants’ Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE), actual exertion (heart rate), and performance (kilometers traveled) during a 20-minute cycling task on a stationary bicycle. I enjoyed my experience at UNB so much so that, in the Fall of 2018, I decided to continue my academic career.

I have been involved in multiple projects thus far in my graduate degree. For my Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded Master’s Apprenticeship, we investigated the daily experiences of Canadian career women firefighters who are 40 years of age and older. For my PhD Apprenticeship, I am currently examining how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the lives of undergraduate students who have recently graduated from a university in the Atlantic provinces. For my PhD thesis – which is supported by both SSHRC and the O’Brien Foundation – I will be examining the lived experiences of sibling caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities who reside in New Brunswick and Ontario.

Currently, I serve on multiple committees throughout the Psychology Department (e.g., Colloquium Committee, Experimental Graduate Student Representative), am President of the UNB Fredericton Psi Chi Chapter and am the Chair of multiple Psi Chi subcommittees (i.e., the Mentorship Program Committee, Induction Committee, and Membership Committee), and mentor 3 students (as part of the Psi Chi Mentorship Program). I am also a research assistant for the Psycho-Social Ethnography of the Commonplace (P-SEC) lab and a teaching assistant (this semester, I am TAing for Dr. Veronica Whitford). Busy times, but I am excited for what the future brings!”

How did you prepare for the interview process? “This is a really good question! The interview process typically differs depending on which degree that you are pursuing (e.g., medical school, graduate school), so I can only speak to what I have done in the past and what I have advised other Psychology students to do. However, some of my experiences and tips may generalize to other fields of study, so do make sure to keep these in mind while preparing for your interviews!

The first thing that I did while preparing for my interview was ask graduate students who were in the program about their interview experience(s), specifically the students who were in the lab of the supervisor that I was applying to work with or within the program (in this case, graduate students who were in Experimental Psychology). This really helped me with focusing on which questions were the most pertinent to prepare for and possibly what my supervisor was looking for in a response (e.g., strong connections to research, personal anecdotes/experiences).

From there, I made sure to research some of the top graduate school interview questions. Once I discovered a solid list (or lists), I gathered the best questions that I could find, then wrote and practiced my responses to said questions. The only thing that one needs to be careful of when following this route (i.e., looking up interview questions and preparing specific answers for said questions) is that you do not sound too rehearsed during the actual interview. You want to make sure that your answers stem from your personal experience(s), or at least as much as possible. Make sure that you provide relevant and compelling examples!

To better prepare myself for the interview, I held mock interviews with other students and my partner, during which I asked for feedback on my responses and body language - this is always something to keep in mind when doing any interview. When being interviewed, one must try their best to portray that they are open and seemingly confident, not closed off (e.g., folding arms/legs) and nervous (e.g., tapping foot, rubbing hands).

Before the interview, I also made sure to read some of the most relevant literature of my supervisor so that I could have something to speak about. While reading some of this body of literature, I made sure to come up with a few research ideas that would satisfy both my supervisor’s interests as well as my own. I also prepared plenty of general and specific questions to ask when prompted by the interviewer(s). For example, I recall asking my supervisor where they thought that their field of Psychology was going in the next 5-10 years and what research they were going to be working on next (in case they were switching topics). This really showed the committee that I was interested in that area of Psychology and had done my homework.

Another thing that I did while preparing for my interview was have a pep talk with myself! Before the day of the interview, I needed to make myself realize that not being able to answer a question and admitting this to the interviewer was not the end of the world (although, it certainly can feel this way).

This is how I prepared for my various graduate school interviews, but this will certainly differ depending on needs/wants/likes! I hope that this helps!”

If you could go back and change one thing about your education to this point what would it be? “Hmm… The two biggest things that I would have changed about my education is that I would have gotten involved in the Psychology Department sooner than I had and networked a bit more at the various conferences that I have attended. Being more involved during my undergraduate degree would have helped me with building those relationships, as well as with bulking my curriculum vitae (which is extremely important for graduate school!). During my graduate degree, I would have also liked to have networked more as this is important for future careers and other opportunities (e.g., collaborations on research). Make sure to keep these in mind when pursuing any graduate degree!” 

What was your process for finding a supervisor that fit with your interests? “This is also a good question! My process of finding a supervisor that fit with my interests involved multiple steps. The first steps may not seem like they lead to the idea of “supervisor fit”, but please bear with me!

In order to find a good supervisor-supervisee fit, I initially began writing down the areas in Psychology that interested me the most. I then searched through website after website of the various Psychology programs that are offered in Canada. Once I figured out which schools had the program/field of Psychology that I was interested in, I then focused on which supervisor I could potentially see myself working with. This involved looking at the information that they had on their university website, own personal website (if applicable), and research (I read 2-3 of their most recent publications). I then narrowed down the number of schools that I would apply for (4-5 universities) and the number of faculty members that I wanted to work with (usually around 2-3 per university). From there, I created extremely detailed emails – which was meant to market myself as an excellent student – and sent these to the professors that I was interested in working with. Although the information about myself (e.g., GPA, university) was the same in these emails, they were tailored specifically for each professor. After a few days (or weeks), some professors either emailed me back and stated that they were not taking on students, asked for meetings or a further elaboration on my specific research interests, or simply did not answer. I found that the meetings and further email communications with specific professors really helped me gain a better understanding of what kind of student they were looking for and what to expect of them as a supervisor. After these meetings and email communications, I then contacted their graduate students to investigate whether my assumptions about said supervisor were correct or incorrect. I will not lie - what some graduate students had to say about their supersvisor(s) played a major role in why I did not choose that specific university/supervisor. Ultimately, what I did to ensure that my supervisor fit with my interests and vice versa was to communicate with them about my interests before they accepted me as a student. If a professor was not interested in my specific topic or idea and was not willing to compromise, then I thanked them for their time. After all, graduate school is meant for you to follow your interests/passions and can take a long time to finish, depending on which degree that you are pursuing. It can also be a long road, so it is a good idea to enjoy your research from the beginning. Once I found a supervisor that was willing to compromise and everything else fell into place (e.g., applications submitted on time), a formal interview was then scheduled. This was yet another opportunity to ensure that our interests were similar and that I could see myself working with this individual for many years to come. From there, I made my decision and accepted UNB’s offer!”

What does research look like in your field? “Research in my specific fields (i.e., Social and Feminist Psychology) span many topics, methods, methodologies, and analyses. Research in Social Psychology includes such topics as social cognition, the self, attitudes, persuasion, group conformity and cohesion, and interpersonal attraction. Feminist Psychology, on the other hand, involves research that focuses on social structures and gender. More specifically, this field of psychology centers the knowledge and experience of women. Although both Feminist and Social Psychological research tend to share similar themes/topics, the former typically focuses on gender, whereas, although the latter may focus on gender, it is not necessarily done with a gendered-lens. In Feminist psychological research, one also does not solely conduct non-sexist studies, but rather a critical evaluation must be made so that women’s experiences can be centered in the research (Wilkinson, 1986). By melding these two areas of Psychology, I have been able to conduct a wide variety of research. For example, I am currently conducting a study on the hiring practices of Black women in engineering fields. In the P-SEC lab, we have also centered the voices and experiences of volunteer/part-time and career women firefighters in the Canadian Fire Services.

The methodologies/methods/analyses that are employed in each area of psychology are also vast! At the most basic level, you have methodologies, methods, and analyses that are either qualitative, quantitative, or mixed (i.e., both qualitative and quantitative). When you begin to break each down, you will find that there are multiple techniques of collecting and analysing data.

In qualitative research, researchers tend to use semi-structured interviews; however, this is not always the case as it depends on the question that the researcher wants to answer and what fits it the best. For example, some researchers use purely text-based sources as data, such as books, social media websites, or blogs, instead of interviewing participants. There are also a variety of qualitative methodologies that are available, such as the P-SEC methodology (which we use extensively in our lab), thematic analysis, discourse analysis, grounded theory, and narrative analysis. Some of these methodologies can even be broken down further, depending on the approach that the researcher is utilizing (e.g., constructivist grounded theory)! The same goes for quantitative research – there are multiple types of research, such as correlational, causal, quasi-experimental, and experimental designs, as well as multiple statistical analyses that can be utilized, such as descriptive statistics, linear regression, ANOVA, MANOVA, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and Factor Analysis (FA). When looking at mixed-methods studies, these typically include equal (albeit, sometimes not as equal as one would hope) elements of both the qualitative methodology and the quantitative methods/analyses that were chosen by the researcher.

All in all, Social and Feminist Psychology (as well as many other areas in Psychology) are booming! If you are interested in one or more areas of Psychology, but are unsure of whether your ideas fit, please know that the nice thing about Psychology is that there are often opportunities for collaborations across and within the various fields of psychology! If you would like to speak to someone about your research ideas or even just about your path in Psychology, please reach out to current students and faculty members – they are more than willing to help!”

Jennifer can be reached at jennifer.sanford@unb.ca for further questions.