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Professor Ayşe K. Üskül

has been awarded the 2023 Jenessa Shapiro Contributions to Diversity and Inclusion Award. 

This award, given by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), recognizes a faculty member who has had a direct and significant impact on the representation and experiences of underrepresented individuals in social and personality psychology and/or the broader community. 

SPSP is the world's largest organization of personality and social psychologists comprised of more than 7,500 members striving to advance the science, teaching, and application of personality and social psychology.

The award is named in memory of UCLA professor Jenessa Shapiro, who thought it was extremely important to promote diversity and inclusion in her university lab and in the field more generally. Jenessa took actions to do this in a number of ways, from volunteering for mentorship lunches at conferences to serving on committees to address issues of diversity. She also engaged in many other less visible activities to contribute to the goals of diversity, inclusion, and social justice that she never advertised.

Üskül received her award at the SPSP Annual Convention in San Diego. She is the first person from outside of the US to receive this award since its inception in 2018. This award recognizes Uskul’s comparative research conducted in underrepresented and understudied regions of the world, her efforts to promote and empower researchers from across the world, and her work on internalization of psychological science practises.

Üskül said: "I am happy that SPSP, a primarily US-based organization, has recognized  contributions to diversity and inclusion that take place in less represented regions which will highlight the importance of increasing global diversity in psychological research".