Imposter Syndrome? Welcome to the Club - School and work can fuel feelings of self-doubt. Can opening up about it help? - Northwestern ...
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FALL 2021 Imposter Syndrome? Welcome to the Club. School and work can fuel feelings of self-doubt. Can opening up about it help?
S E S P FALL 2021 VOL. 22, NO. 1 M E SSAG E F RO M T H E D E A N
Dean
David Figlio
Senior Associate Dean
Coleen T. Coleman (MS91)
Associate Dean
Kavita Kapadia Matsko (MS97), Teacher Education
DE AR FRIENDS,
Assistant Deans SESP is famously Northwestern’s happi-
Jeanne M. Hughes, Research
est school—a claim that resonates for us
Susan Olson, Student Affairs
Amy Pratt, Community Education Partnerships
all, I hope. At the onset of the pandemic,
when forced to stay physically apart, we
Managing Editor
Julie Deardorff
had a hard time making that assertion.
julie.deardorff@northwestern.edu Now that I’ve returned to walking to
campus, I’m seeing signs of reconnec-
Publication Design, Editing, and Production
Office of Global Marketing and Communications tion everywhere: we’re making eye con-
tact again, gathering at the candy bowl
Illustration
Özge Samanci in the student affairs office, and thriv-
ing on the creative energy that is best
Photography
generated when we’re together.
7
Shane Collins, Deanna Dent, Steve Drey, Focal
Flame Photography, Annette Hornischer, Claire What keeps us the happiest school?
Ivey, Kushal Patel, Tiffany Stubbs, Dirk Topham, I have a few theories. One hinges on
Jordan Walker SESP’s faculty, globally recognized for
©2021 Northwestern University. All rights Imposter Syndrome
Syndrome: their expertise in improving learning “We’re all newcomers.” Dean Figlio greets students during Wildcat Welcome 2021.
reserved. 11-21/16M/RM-HM/3122 at all ages and in all contexts. My col-
Maybe it’s not you. Maybe it’s the environment.
SESP is published for alumni, families, and friends leagues represent just two percent of
of the School of Education and Social Policy. Northwestern’s faculty but account for SESP’s class size triples from first This year, in a way, we are all new-
Diverse views are presented and do not necessarily more than five percent of those consis- year to senior year as word spreads comers: some sophomores have never
reflect the editor’s opinions or Northwestern
tently receiving University recognition about our tight-knit community, innova- taken a course on campus, and juniors
University’s official policies.
for their honors and awards. (As one tive classes and programs, and devoted and seniors have had to improvise and
SESP welcomes all reader input, including adapt in ways our faculty and staff
example, almost two-thirds of our full academic advisers, faculty, and staff.
story ideas, comments, class notes, corrections,
professors are elected members of the Our alumni are constantly giving back— know all too well. But we are happily
and address changes.
sespalums@northwestern.edu national academies; read more about whether it’s Alex Sims (BS10), who spoke rebuilding SESP’s special culture.
847-467-3147
More Stories and Ways to Connect
21 our NAEd members on page 6.) And
since our areas of study directly relate
to the graduating class of 2021 and
delivered this fall’s Loeschner lecture,
I welcome you to play a part in any
way you can.
sesp.northwestern.edu Hailstorm to supporting human learning and or the alumni who gave up a Friday
facebook.com/sespnu
twitter.com/sesp_nu
USA well-being, it’s no wonder that student afternoon to meet with students at our
Triathlete satisfaction and engagement with SESP annual homecoming reunion lunch.
instagram.com/sesp_nu
Still, high satisfaction rates don’t David Figlio
classes have trended high throughout
Haily Danz (BS13) Orrington Lunt Professor and Dean
11 reflects on coming
the pandemic, even while student and
staff morale has sagged elsewhere.
mean we have our heads in the sand.
You can feel “SESP Love” and simulta-
P.S. In October came the announcement of
ON THE COVER Upending out and medaling in But as an education economist who neously feel frustration and want to Northwestern’s next president, Rebecca Blank.
Media artist and graphic
novelist Özge Samanci is
Conventional the Paralympics. has long studied what makes college change things. We can do better in lots I’m overjoyed that a decorated social policy
expert—herself an elected national academy
students successful, I know what of ways, and we must always be held
an associate professor in Wisdom matters even more than our accolades: accountable for building a more equi
member—and a once and hopefully future
Northwestern’s School of SESP faculty member will be succeeding Morty
Economist Kirabo Jackson our personal relationships. table, inclusive, and effective SESP. Schapiro, an esteemed education economist
Communication. Her graphic
novel Dare to Disappoint uses shows how spending on who’s also an NAEd member.
inventive collages to tell her students now pays off later.
story of growing up on the Aegean
Coast in Turkey. Her drawings have appeared in
the New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Slate, and
many more publications. Message from the Dean 1 | School News 2 | Alumni News 14 | Donors 18
1
S C H O O L N E WS
Helping Build the From the Mouths of Babes
Credibility Revolution Early-childhood care and education policies could be improved by paying
attention to how very young children perceive the world, according to new
The pathbreaking work of faculty members
research by Terri J. Sabol, assistant professor of human development and
Larry Hedges, Kirabo Jackson, and Diane
social policy at SESP, and Andrea Kinghorn Busby (PhD21), assistant pro
Schanzenbach was cited multiple times in
fessor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University.
the scientific background document justify
Their study “A Critical Gap in Early Childhood Policies: Children’s Mean
ing this year’s recipients of the Nobel Prize
ing Making” argues that major advances in psychological science and
in Economics.
technology can enable researchers to measure the perceptions of children
Laureates David Card, Joshua Angrist,
as young as four years old.
and Guido Imbens showed that many of
In the past, researchers rarely consulted children between the ages
society’s big questions can be answered
of four and eight, partly because children that young were deemed unreli
The Double Bind of
by using so-called natural experiments—
real-life situations that resemble randomized
able narrators. But Sabol, Busby, and their team devised an interactive, Multiple Identities
tablet-based app for measuring children’s perceptions and used it to
controlled trials. Tabitha Bonilla received a Daniel I. Linzer Grant for Inno
gauge kindergarteners’ notions of a college savings account.
The empirical evidence used in natural vation in Diversity and Equity to develop a new under
Their findings showed that the children could grasp what college is or
experiments comes from work by Hedges, graduate course framed around the idea that overlapping
what they might do in college, a “first step toward assessing young chil
Jackson, Schanzenbach, and countless identities—or intersectionality—can contribute to dis
dren’s meaning-making at scale using technology-assisted measurement
others—including graduate students. One of crimination or disadvantage.
tools,” they wrote.
Jackson’s studies, cited in the In a TED Talk shown on the first day of class, pioneer of
Nobel background document, critical race theory Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw defines
Program Receives Prestigious Accreditation was coauthored with intersectionality and discusses the double bind facing
SESP’s Executive Learning and Organiza education, design, nonprofit, and other Claudia Persico (PhD16), victims of simultaneous racial and gender prejudice.
tional Change program has been accred sectors hone their capacities to lead who was then Black women, for example, experience both racism and
ited by the International Accreditors for impactful change at both the individual Jackson’s sexism that are expressed differently than either the rac
Continuing Education and Training, the and organizational levels. student. ism experienced by Black men or the sexism experienced
top certifying body in the continuing Course topics include coaching, leader by white women.
education field. ship development, change management, Researchers are grappling with the meaning of inter
Launched in early 2019, ELOC attracts and organizational design. ELOC classes sectionality and its impact on everything from environ
leaders with at least 15 years’ work expe in both in-person and online formats offer mental and reproductive policy to COVID-19, says Bonilla,
rience and builds on the learning and flexible learning opportunities to help assistant professor of human development and social
organizational change master’s degree participants quickly and efficiently build policy. “Mounting research underscores how important
curriculum that SESP pioneered. new skills. it is to think about identity more comprehensively and
Professionals from the business, Learn more at eloc.northwestern.edu. completely,” she adds.
Practicum Passion: Zumwalt Acres
Julia Borland (second from left), a fourth-year social policy major with a deep
Keeping Leaders in the Classroom
interest in the environment, won a $10,000 Projects for Peace award to incorpo
rate food-justice issues into a sustainable farming project. When lawyers are promoted to partners, they don’t stop practicing law. So why should
As part of her SESP practicum, Borland cofounded the Zumwalt Acres appren teachers have to leave the classroom to rise through the ranks?
ticeship program (zumwaltacres.org), which selects 10 young adults to live and SESP’s new Teacher Leadership Program offers educators a different way upward.
work on a farm in Sheldon, Illinois, for three months. Apprentices write grant Leading to a master of science in education in teacher leadership or a certificate of
applications, get their hands dirty in organic garden beds, research sustainable advanced study, the program’s combination of workshops, conferences, and short
soil management, and more. courses allows talented teachers to grow as scholars and leaders while they con
“Material from my social policy and economics courses translates well to tinue to work with students.
the work,” Borland says. “But being on the farm feels so real—like we’re really Teachers in the program learn how to navigate today’s most pressing social and
making an impact.” cultural issues by drawing on SESP’s expertise in the learning sciences, human
Borland’s plans include offering a yearlong apprenticeship (starting in fall development, and social policy. “We want leaders who can foster equitable and social
2022) and adding resources and opportunities that address political, social, and justice–based learning environments, engage with communities, and enrich learning
cultural issues in farming. Apprentices will attend workshops such as Soul Fire and development,” says program director Tim Dohrer.
Farm’s Uprooting Racism in the Food System and gain exposure to other leading Learn more about the Teacher Leadership Program at sesp.northwestern.edu
forces in environmental justice in US agriculture. /teacher-leadership.
2 SESP FA LL 2021 3
S C H O O L N E WS
IN BRIEF Designing for—and
with—People with
Equity Book Club Hosts Innovative Thinkers
The SESP Equity Book Club features speakers who have studied and written about justice or equity issues. During 2020–21, the club hosted
Professor Emma Adam has been named associate vice president
for research in Northwestern’s Office of Research. Disabilities Bettina L. Love, author of We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom, and Bryan McKinley
Jones Brayboy, whose scholarship focuses on the role of race and diversity in higher education.
A college design course that critically The club arose in 2019 from student and staff conversations spearheaded by Claire Mackevicius, a human development and social policy doctoral
Faculty members Tabitha Bonilla, Claudia Haase, Regina Logan, and
evaluates the field of “making” and student, and Shelena Johnson, a former senior academic adviser. The club’s speakers series “challenges us to be a better version of ourselves and
Emma Adam Quinn Mulroy received 2020 Daniel I. Linzer Grants for Innovation in
partners students with people with to be more consequential in our communities,” Dean David Figlio says.
Diversity and Equity.
disabilities can promote accessibility
in computing, according to new research
Cynthia Coburn was named a 2021 Charles Deering McCormick
by Marcelo Worsley and David Bar-El
Professor of Teaching Excellence.
(PhD21). “If all you know about Black folx is our pain and
Faculty member Danny M. Cohen (PhD11) was appointed cochair of the
The Inclusive Making course is a pre our trauma, you can’t do social justice work . . .
Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission.
liminary blueprint for scholars who want because our history does not start with this
to adapt it for their own accessible design
Coleen Coleman classes, Worsley and Bar-El wrote in the
pain, and we do not fight and find our way out
Senior associate dean Coleen Coleman (BS88, MS91) received the 2021
Jean E. Shedd University Citizenship Award for her leadership, empathy, journal Computer Science Education. of it because of it. It comes from a joy, a love,
and capacity for solving problems under pressure. creativity, and ingenuity.”
Bettina L. Love | Georgia Athletic Association Professor in
Social psychologist Mesmin Destin was named a 2021 Guggenheim Education at the University of Georgia
fellow and won Northwestern’s Department of Psychology Invaluable
Mentorship Award.
Mesmin Destin
Developmental psychologist Claudia Haase was promoted to associate
professor of human development and social policy.
Professor emeritus Carol Lee received the McGraw Prize in Education,
the 2021 National Council of Teachers of English James R. Squire Award, “Change must be purposeful and intentional.
and the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award
It must be rooted in freedom and sovereignty,
from the American Educational Research Association, the premier
acknowledgment of outstanding achievement and success in with the goals of creating the conditions for all
Carol Lee education research. children to learn, free of systems that limit,
“Making” is a form of computing that hinder, surveil, and control.”
Assistant professor Jen Munson launched Multiplicity Lab, which connects digital and physical technolo
works to connect innovative research in the learning sciences to the Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy | President’s Professor in the School
gies. Students in the course—meant for
daily practices of math educators. of Social Transformation at Arizona State University
upper-level undergraduate and graduate
students studying engineering, educa
The Urban Affairs Association named assistant professor Sally Nuamah
tion, or both—are challenged to design a
the 2021 Marilyn J. Gittell Activist Scholar. Her book How Girls Achieve
Sally Nuamah
tool or activity that solves an accessibil
was recognized with the Comparative and International Education
Society’s Jackie Kirk Award and the American Educational Studies
ity problem.
“By including critical discussions of the
Use These Guides to Help Fight Misinformation
Association Critics’ Choice Book Award.
field and authentically collaborating with Professor David Rapp and graduate student Michael Spikes
the community, we can develop better have lent their expertise to efforts to build critical-thinking
The Psychology of High Performance: Developing Human Potential into
designs and change perceptions about skills around COVID-19 and media literacy issues.
Domain-Specific Talent by Center for Talent Development director
what a valuable computing experience Rapp, professor of psychology and learning sciences, was
Paula Olszewski-Kubilius won Book of the Year from the National
is,” says Worsley, assistant professor of among more than two dozen scientists from around the world
Association for Gifted Children.
computer science and learning sciences. who contributed to the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication
Eleanor O’Rourke
Faculty members Eleanor O’Rourke and Marcelo Worsley received Handbook. The user-friendly resource, which links to a wiki,
Early Career Award Development (CAREER) Awards from the National demystifies COVID-19 vaccines and offers advice on how to
Science Foundation. accurately challenge misinformation. Spikes served as a
national adviser for the American Library Association’s Media
Shirin Vossoughi, who was recently promoted to associate professor Literacy in the Library, a guide that helps library staffers
of learning sciences, won the International Society of the Learning
respond to misinformation and other media literacy issues.
Sciences’ inaugural Early Career Award.
David Rapp Michael Spikes
Marcelo Worsley
4 SESP FA LL 2021 5
FEELING LIKE A
S C H O O L N E WS
SESP Faculty Elected to the National Academy of Education
In 2021, Northwestern University professors Megan Bang, Jonathan Guryan, and Brian Reiser were
elected to the prestigious National Academy of Education for their stellar contributions to education
scholarship and research. It is the first time in school history that three faculty members were elected
in the same year. The School of Education and Social Policy now has 15 NAEd members.
FRAUD?
Megan Bang (2021), Professor of Learning Jonathan Guryan (2021), Lawyer Taylor Brian J. Reiser (2021), Professor of
Sciences and of Psychology Professor of Education and Social Policy Learning Sciences
Cynthia E. Coburn Kirabo Jackson (2020), Diane Whitmore David Figlio (2017), Morton O. Schapiro James P. Spillane
(2020), Professor of Abraham Harris Schanzenbach (2019), School Dean and (2017), Professor of (2014), Spencer T. and
Education and Social Professor of Education Margaret Walker Orrington Lunt Economics and Ann W. Olin Professor
Policy and Social Policy Alexander Professor of Professor of Education President of in Learning and
Human Development and Social Policy Northwestern Organizational Change
and Social Policy and
Director of the Institute
for Policy Research
P. Lindsay Douglas L. Medin Penelope Peterson Carol D. Lee (2007), Larry V. Hedges (1996), Allan Collins (1992),
Chase-Lansdale (2012), Professor (2011), Former School Professor Emerita of Board of Trustees Professor Emeritus of
(2013), Frances Willard Emeritus of Dean and Professor Education and Social Professor of Statistics Education and Social
Professor Emerita of Psychology and Emerita of Education Policy and of African and of Education and Policy
Human Development of Education and and Social Policy American Studies; Social Policy
and Social Policy Social Policy NAEd President
(2021–25)
6 SESP FA LL 2021 7
YOU’RE NOT ALONE.
Yes, imposter syndrome is real. And common.
Here’s how to make peace with it.
H
er résumé can only be syndrome flourishes in particular Meanwhile, celebrities from Tom Hanks Imposter syndrome has been documented now a postdoc at
and Michelle Obama to Maya Angelou have the University of
described as stellar: environments—a finding that may lead
also reportedly wrestled with it.
in both men and women, among multiple Texas at Austin.
Cofounded a nonprofit in to strategies for preventing it in the
high school. Got into first place. “No matter what we’ve done, there ethnic and racial groups, and in many settings “Clearly, exter-
comes a point where you think, ‘How did nal eyes were
Northwestern. Won a from academia to medicine.
Fulbright scholarship. Who is susceptible? I get here?’” Hanks said in an interview recognizing
Earned a PhD. And she currently works Imposter syndrome—that unsettling feel- on the NPR program Fresh Air. “When that. So when
as a pediatric psychologist—a job she ing that you’ve landed a plum job or oppor- are they going to discover that I am, in Jodi-Ann Burey contend that the concept Lower-income and first-generation was I going to?”
loves—while running a small consultancy. tunity because of an oversight and that fact, a fraud and take everything away of imposter syndrome “took a fairly college students often have to cope Muñiz, the
Yet for all her professional success, you’ll be outed any day now—was first from me?” universal feeling of discomfort, second- with not just imposter syndrome but daughter of Mexican
Aria Fiat (BS13) can’t shake the feeling described in 1978 by psychologists Paulene Feeling like an imposter is not identified guessing, and mild anxiety in the work- also a related phenomenon: achieve- immigrants, was the
that she’ll eventually be found out. Clance and Suzanne Imes, who called it as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statisti place and pathologized it, especially ment guilt. first teenage mother to
“When does imposter syndrome end?” “imposter phenomenon.” Describing the cal Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of for women.” When people from lower socioeconomic return to her high
she recently mused on Twitter. “Asking for feeling as “intellectual phoniness,” they psychiatric illness, and there’s no evidence backgrounds begin to experience success school; two years later
a friend.” noticed it in a sample of high-achieving that it can be treated or that it declines The self is not to blame and move upward, they can grow more she became the first
The outpouring of responses to Fiat’s women professionals—women not with age, according to the Journal of In the article “Contextualizing the uncertain about where they belong. student at her high
tweet—ranging from “Maybe never” unlike Fiat. General Internal Medicine review. Imposter ‘Syndrome,’” which appeared Mesmin Destin, associate professor of school to be accepted to the
and “Not until you get your second PhD” But over the last few decades, the Yet there’s no shortage of self-help in Frontiers in Psychology in 2020, an human development and social policy at University of California,
to “When you stop marching to other syndrome has been documented in both books and breezy online articles on how to international team of psychologists and SESP, calls this destabilizing feeling Berkeley. She earned a master’s at the
people’s drum and start marching to men and women, among multiple ethnic get over imposter syndrome and the worst human resource management experts “status uncertainty,” and his work sug- Harvard Graduate School of Education,
your own”—reflected both the syndrome’s and racial groups, and in many settings problems associated with it—burnout and argue that imposter syndrome is not a gests that, like stress, it can affect every- where she was selected as her cohort’s
near-universality and the promise from academia to medicine, according to impaired performance. dysfunction that arises within people. thing from motivation to physical health. Intellectual Contribution Award recipient.
that opening up about it can provide a Journal of General Internal Medicine In her book Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg, It’s not a diagnosis. Instead, it’s a response “Even temporary shifts in how people Along the way, however, imposter syn-
some relief. literature review published in 2020. Facebook’s chief operating officer, cites to one’s surroundings. construe their status-based identities drome loomed large. Muñiz questioned
The online conversations have been Fiat says her imposter syndrome flared studies suggesting that women experience They go on to suggest that “examining predict changes in thought, affect, motiva- whether she belonged and wondered if she
eye-opening and even life-changing for up after arriving at Northwestern. She imposter syndrome in part due to their the role of society, culture, organizations, tion, and behavior,” he says. “The greater was seen as a token student.
some, who say they once believed their kept telling herself it would vanish if she generally lower self-confidence. She tells and institutions [in perpetuating imposter the uncertainty people experience, the “Is my story so exemplary that they feel
suffering was a personal failing. But just cleared one more hurdle. But the hur- women, “Give yourself credit for your syndrome] has the potential to lead to sys- more negatively it affects their well-being.” like, ‘Yeah, OK, she’s someone we can let
growing evidence from psychologists and dles kept coming: “First it was ‘If I just get achievements rather than brushing them temic change, which will create an envi- Graduate student Julissa Muñiz, the in?’” she asks.
human resource man- into Northwestern,’” she says. “Then off,” “stop internalizing failure,” and “be ronment where everyone feels as though first in her family to graduate from col- “But I realized that was also unfair of
agement experts it became ‘If I win this award, yourself in the office.” they rightly belong.” lege, has wrestled with both imposter me. I’m not a token, even if others try to
suggests that if I graduate with a 4.0 Other advice and purported solutions syndrome and achievement guilt. It was make it out that way,” she says. “I’ve also
imposter GPA, if I start a PhD pro- typically focus on fixing the individual only after receiving two major national worked really hard for a long time for
gram,’ and on and on.” and treating coexisting conditions such awards—the Paul and Daisy Soros these moments, the accomplishments,
as depression or anxiety with therapy Fellowship and the Spencer Disserta and the trajectory I’m on.”
and coaching. tion Fellowship—that imposter syn- At Northwestern, imposter syndrome
However, in their February 2021 drome began to wane, she says. workshops and webinars are routinely
Harvard Business Review article, “Stop “I feel like I should have real- held by students, schools, and divisions,
Telling Women They Have Imposter ized the strength of who I am as a from the Feinberg School of Medicine and
Syndrome,” Ruchika Tulshyan and scholar before that,” says Muñiz, Counseling and Psychological Services to
8 SESP 9
Kirabo Jackson’s Quest
“Organizations need to take ownership of the
culture and settings they create.” —Michelle Albaugh
So does the feeling ever end?
Fiat loves what she does at Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital Medical Center—
to Reframe the Returns
the Black, Indigenous, and
providing behavioral health prevention
and intervention services to young chil-
dren and their families. Supplies for
on School Spending
People of Color Support Circle. Dreams, the nonprofit she cofounded in
Laurice Shelven Adegunwa her teens, is thriving, and she serves in
(MS18) and Jen Allen (MS16), an advisory capacity as vice president
both consultants at Slalom of its board of directors.
consulting, gave a workshop on There are still times when she
imposter syndrome during the wonders to herself, “Do I belong here?
class Learning and Organiza- Am I a phony? Will they realize they
tional Change in the Field. made a mistake in choosing me?”
Their workshop was funded To Fiat’s credit, she says she is learning
by a Northwestern University to regard her self-doubts not as symptoms
YourLife Wellness Grant. of a chronic syndrome but as “occasional
“Organizations need to take imposter thoughts.”
W
ownership of the culture and And it helps a great deal, she says, to
settings they create,” says have supportive colleagues and mentors
Michelle Albaugh (PhD15), who “remind me that discomfort is a hen Kirabo “Bo” “It’s no panacea, but investing in children early
associate director of coaching sign of growth.” Jackson first heard the
in SESP’s Master’s in axiom that school and often pays off during adulthood, especially
Learning and Organiza TORY BY JULIE DE ARDORFF
S
spending doesn’t matter,
for kids from low-income families.”
tional Change Program. ILLUSTR ATED BY ÖZGE SAMANCI he was a young PhD student in economics
To combat imposter syndrome— learning over pure performance, at Harvard. It was the early 2000s, and the
whether it’s where you work or visualize success, and have a growth conventional wisdom was that money can benefit or hurt students long after earned two Ivy League graduate degrees
where you learn—“focus on mindset,” she says. played a minor role in a student’s success. they’ve left school. and joined the Northwestern faculty,
Jackson wasn’t so sure. Over the next Some of his most original and influen- his education had been part Caribbean,
decade, as he applied new research meth- tial new research tackles the question of part West African, part East African, and
ods to dig deeper and question long-held what makes someone a good teacher and part British.
assumptions, he began to show that casts doubt on whether test scores are the The youngest of June and Clement
Institutional and social contexts matter
money can matter, reigniting a national best way—or only way—to assess how well Jackson’s three children, Jackson was born
Everyday racial microaggressions, Helping adolescents develop posi encourage more equitable student debate on school finance. students do in school. in 1980 in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale.
“School spending really can affect a “When people look back on their most When he was two years old, the family
such as the presumption that one is tive feelings about their identities can experiences, according to research
child’s future,” says Jackson, the Abraham important teachers, the social aspects of moved to Jamaica, where his mother
less intelligent or accomplished, can reduce the stress from discrimination by SESP’s Mesmin Destin and Shirin
Harris Professor of Human Development their education—learning to take risks, set taught mathematics at the University of
play a role in imposter syndrome, says and improve both their health and their Vossoughi, associate professor of
and Social Policy at SESP. “It’s no panacea, goals, or simply believe in themselves— Technology, and his father, an economist,
SESP professor Emma Adam, a develop success in school. “A strong ethnic or learning sciences. Their study
but investing in children early and often are often what they recall,” Jackson says. worked as director of the Planning
mental psychologist whose research racial identity may be an important “Elevating the Objectives of Higher pays off during adulthood, especially for “I want to know what skills students need Institute of Jamaica. In 1989 the Jacksons
suggests that stress associated with source of feelings of social acceptance Education to Effectively Serve kids from low-income families.” to become productive adults and which moved to Sierra Leone, where Clement
racial discrimination adversely affects and belonging,” Adam says. Students from Diverse Socioeconomic A labor economist, Jackson has long teachers can build these traits.” began working for the United Nations.
both physical and mental health in Institutions that help young people Backgrounds” appeared in Policy been interested in how people are affected Then, after civil war broke out in Sierra
adolescents and young adults. recognize their backgrounds as Insights from the Behavioral and by systems. In addition to public school Roots around the globe Leone, the family relocated again, this
strengths rather than liabilities Brain Sciences. funding, his work largely explores how As for his own most important teachers, time to Tanzania, in 1992. Jackson later
college prep programs, ability tracking, Jackson could say that one of them was his attended boarding school in England and
single-sex education, and other practices upbringing on three continents. Before he returned to the US for college.
10 SESP FA LL 2021 11
As an undergraduate at Yale University, methods of statisticians, sociologists, psy- Renowned Harvard economist Raj
Jackson nearly double-majored in music chologists, historians, and others from Chetty calls Jackson “an outstanding
Renowned Harvard economist Raj Chetty
and economics and even flirted with film different fields changed the types of ques- scholar, committed mentor, and visionary calls Jackson “an outstanding scholar,
scoring as a possible career; ultimately he tions he asked and “definitely deepened leader” whose work “has greatly impacted
committed mentor, and visionary leader.”
earned a bachelor’s degree in ethics, poli- my thinking,” he says. “I wanted to learn education science and practice and will
tics, and economics. His next stop was a whole new tool kit and bring those surely continue to define these fields
Harvard, where he completed his doctor- insights into economics.” moving forward.”
ate in economics in 2007. Now 41, Jackson just became one of justice system,” associated with lower poverty rates in
“Getting an education is one of the few the youngest members of the exclusive What really makes a good teacher? Jackson says. “Our the future.
things people can do to really improve National Academy of Education. His Borrowing from psychology and sociology work shows that these Their models suggested that a 10 percent
their lives,” Jackson says. “I’ve always seen growing collection of accolades includes and devising and applying innovative surveys can be used funding increase across all 12 years of
it as a vehicle through which economies the 2020 David N. Kershaw Award and tools that can measure hard-to-quantify alongside test scores to schooling can raise students’ graduation
and societies develop. It’s a mechanism for Prize, among the most prestigious and traits like motivation, Jackson is helping to give us a more com- rates and boost their income as adults,
social justice.” largest awards recognizing contributions uncover what really makes a good teacher. plete picture of how particularly for low-income students.
When Jackson joined the SESP faculty to public policy and social science. He The ability to boost standardized test schools prepare stu- “Overall, every additional dollar spent
in 2010, he found the multidisciplinary is also a National Bureau of Economic scores is just part of the picture, Jackson dents for the future.” on schools generates a $2 return on invest-
environment of the school and the Insti Research–affiliated scholar and is a says. The power to motivate and engage ment in the form of higher earnings down
tute for Policy Research electrifying. coeditor of American Economic Journal: students also matters—but how can that School funding the road,” Jackson says. “This means we
Exposure to the ideas and research Economic Policy. be measured? matters should spend more now to benefit students
To find answers, Jackson turned to a The idea that money is and society for years to come.”
database that tracked the academic not directly connected In a separate study, “Do Spending Cuts
“Students who attend schools that emphasize social- performance of 464,502 North Carolina to to student achievement Matter? Evidence from the Great Reces
ninth-graders from 2005 to 2011. Using took root when it sion,” published in American Economic
emotional learning are more likely to attend college data on attendance, suspensions, and appeared in an influen- Journal: Economic Policy last May, Jackson
and have a reduced chance of entering the criminal grade point average, he devised a way to are often rewarded, while teachers who tial government publication from 1966 and his coauthors showed that, on aver-
inspire students often aren’t recognized. known as the Coleman report. The asser- age, a $1,000 reduction in per-pupil spend-
justice system.” measure students’ noncognitive abilities,
or the social-emotional traits known as “Jackson’s findings are at odds with how tion endured for decades. ing reduced average test scores in math
soft skills. The resulting study, published many districts evaluate teachers,” Tough But as Jackson points out, much about and reading and the rate of students going
in the Journal of Political Economy, came says. “But when I talk to teachers them- the Coleman report has been called into to college.
to the attention of Paul Tough, bestselling selves about Jackson’s study, they tell me question, including the adequacy of the
author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curi that his discovery makes perfect sense to research that informed it. Testing his own ideas
osity, and the Hidden Power of Character. them. They know there are things going on “Spending decisions have not been Jackson’s breakthroughs often come from
“Jackson’s new index measured, in a in their classrooms that standardized test grounded in enough evidence,” Jackson approaching problems from unexpected
fairly crude way, how engaged students scores can’t capture.” says. “It’s not that people in the 1960s, angles and beta testing ideas on platforms
were in school—whether they showed up, Jackson also used surveys of ninth- ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s were wrong or ignorant; like Twitter.
whether they misbehaved, and how hard graders in Chicago Public Schools to it’s that they didn’t have the methodology Another source of honest feedback: his
they worked in their classes,” Tough says. assess which schools best supported or the computing power to do the type wife, Shayna Silverstein, an ethnomusicol-
What is more, Tough continues, social-emotional development. The paper, of research we can do now.” ogist and assistant professor of perfor-
Jackson’s “noncognitive proxy was, remark- coauthored by human development and When he set out to address the school mance studies at Northwestern. They met
ably, a better predictor than students’ test social policy doctoral student Sebastián funding question, Jackson went beyond while she was finishing her dissertation at
scores of whether the students would go Kiguel and published in American Eco examining standardized test results and the University of Chicago.
on to attend college, a better predictor of nomic Review: Insights, found that some instead studied school spending’s impact “She’ll ask me why something I’m work-
adult wages, and a better predictor of schools are better than others at helping on students’ life trajectories. ing on is interesting,” Jackson says. “It
future arrests.” students develop healthy social lives, com- In one study, published in the Quarterly forces me to think about whether what I’m
In other words, the long-term benefits of munity connections, and the skills and Journal of Economics, Jackson and his saying makes sense to a broader audience.”
improving students’ social-emotional habits that promote hard work and grit. coauthors—Claudia Persico (PhD16) of The couple have two young children and
development tend to outweigh those “Students who attend schools that American University and Rucker Johnson share a love of music, Jamaican curried
linked to improving their test scores. Yet emphasize social-emotional learning are of the University of California, Berkeley— goat, and martial arts. “I also appreciate
teachers who excel at raising test scores more likely to attend college and have a showed that court-ordered increases his love for karaoke,” Silverstein says. “He
reduced chance of entering the criminal in US school funding in the 1970s were takes decompression very seriously.”
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“I Am a Woman with a Trans Background” From SESP to Showtime
Q&A with Karen Topham
It’s no coincidence that Dan Perlman (BS12)
plays a teacher in Showtime’s off-kilter com
In 1998 Karen Topham (MS79) wasn’t strong enough because of other
edy series Flatbush Misdemeanors. School
became the nation’s first emotional issues. So I said, “OK, that’s fine.
settings and the tangled relationships among
openly transgender teacher to You’re trans. I’ll work with that, but I’m
students, educators, and communities have
transition on the job. From not going to fully accept it until you’re 24.”
long influenced his writing and comedy.
1983 until her retirement in I pulled that number out of a hat. I accepted
“The show emphasizes the community
2016, she taught English and it long before that.
aspect,” says Perlman, who cocreated, writes,
drama and directed 37 plays
and stars in the series with fellow comedian
at suburban Chicago’s Lake What were you like as a high school teacher?
Kevin Iso. “We’re all coexisting and intercon
Forest High School. Currently a I was an experimenter in the classroom. I had
necting, which forces the characters into rela
theater critic and transgender always been skeptical of the value of grading
tionships and dynamics they wouldn’t
advocate, she spoke with SESP and spent the last two years of my career
otherwise have.”
magazine about coming out working in a gradeless classroom.
Flatbush Misdemeanors tackles race, gen
publicly and taking pedagogi
trification, and mental health in a rapidly
cal risks. How did that work?
changing New York neighborhood. Described
I gave my students a huge end-of-year project
as “raw” and praised for its authenticity, the
What was it like to transition that allowed them to focus on whatever inter
10-episode series follows fictionalized ver
in the late 1990s? ested them, made them happy, or was part of
sions of Perlman and Iso as they try to carve
In 1998 I had three little kids them. Those projects—they rocked my world!
out their place in the city.
under age 12. The word “trans
The characters have “at least three sides”
gender” had basically just How were the projects ultimately assessed?
to their personality and are deliberately com
been invented, and most peo They told me what grade they thought they
plicated, Perlman says. It’s a perspective that
ple didn’t even know the previ deserved at individual conferences. If they
he honed while studying human development
ous word, “transsexual.” Those were able to justify it, that’s the grade they
and social policy at SESP.
who did know it usually had got. Most undervalued themselves. But the
“People play multiple roles in seemingly Dan Perlman cocreated, writes, and stars in Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, which has been renewed
confused and negative reac one student who said to me, “I deserve an F,” for a second season.
unrelated worlds within their own lives,”
tions. My colleagues at the was right. He failed himself.
You learned about transgender identities Perlman says. “But we’re all linked in some
high school uniformly said,
by age 11. At that point, what did you way. SESP helps encourage that kind of think Perlman, who also performs stand-up Perlman showed reporting chops from an
“That’s wonderful and we support you, but Do you have a favorite classroom memory?
decide to do? ing, understanding, and empathy.” comedy, released his debut standup album, early age. As a 12-year-old, he wrote letters to
you can’t [transition] here.” I thought they After my students and I watched a video of
I had known my own identity from age 3, At Northwestern, Perlman tutored, pro Emergency Contact, in May 2020. He also famous comedians, asking them how to do
were probably right. It was big news at the their end-of-year presentations, I asked them
though I only discovered at 11 what to call it. duced shorts for Northwestern Sketch wrote and directed the short film Cramming, stand-up or to name their favorite performers.
time. Oprah wanted me on her show, but I to talk about what they gained and to fill out
Still, I felt I needed to live as a guy because I Television, and completed several indepen which won an audience choice award at the (Bob Newhart wrote back.) Each received a
turned her down to protect my kids. class evaluations. At the end of class, when I
didn’t have any choice. I was really bad at dent projects with SESP professor Dan Lewis. 2020 Brooklyn Film Festival and first prize different question because “I was afraid they
was saying goodbye, they stood up and spon
being a guy, but I was a good parent and He researched and wrote about suburban at the 2020 Rhode Island International all knew each other,” he says.
How did you announce it? taneously applauded. That was huge to me!
teacher and I got by. But in my 30s, every homelessness and learned to take field Film Festival. Perlman also wrote jokes, which he told to
I let friends and colleagues know individually It told me how well that kind of classroom
thing broke down. Someone I had known as a notes—a skill he still uses today—during Cramming follows eighth-graders Alex and “exactly nobody” or hid under his bed. “It took
at first. Even after I was publicly out, there situation—where you’re not focused on arbi
woman transitioned to a man. Just meeting his practicum. Yan Bo, whose friendship is threatened when years of working up the courage to try it,” he
were pockets of my life where I was not. One trary grades but on individual students learn
him opened the door. I began devolving into “Dan was a great student, and now he is a they’re accused of cheating off each another. says. “But I’ve also always enjoyed education
was at church. When my daughter Julianne ing what they can learn—can work.
an anxiety- and depression-ridden mess. funny and insightful performer,” Lewis says. The film grew out of a conversation Perlman and public service—the kind of stuff that
was 13, she gave a presentation in church on
Finally, when I was 39, I had a massive epiph “His ability to observe the human condition had with Alex, his tutee at the time. makes you feel like you’re leaving something
LBGTQ identities while I sat in the congrega How do you identify yourself now?
any: the problem was this gender dysphoria with grace and empathy shines through in all “I tried to go into it with the skills that SESP a little better than you found it.”
tion. I was so embarrassed that I was still I like the phrasing, “I am a woman with a
that I thought I had under control. his work.” teaches: not being insensitive with the con He feels slightly guilty for not pursuing edu
hiding my identity that I called her down from transgender background,” because it was
In 2014, Perlman and Iso, who met at a tent you’re making, asking hard questions, cation professionally, so “pretending to be a
the podium and said, “Honey, call on me. I’m a background, something that is now over
You have a transgender child. Did your expe- New York open mic night, started posting doing research, and talking to people to find teacher is the next best thing,” he says. “Also,
going to do this.” She said, “Are you sure?” and done. I like that the prefix “trans”
rience make it easier or harder to accept? short YouTube videos they called “Moderately out the best way to be creative and still drive making my character a lousy teacher feels
I said, “Yeah. I’m sure.” means moving beyond.
My instant reaction was not to believe him. Funny.” Then, on virtually no budget, they the story,” he says. funnier and more honest, so it’s not self-
I was fueled by the knowledge of how hard produced three web episodes of Flatbush congratulatory. My character’s not saving
this thing is when you do it publicly, and I Misdemeanors. The first installment won anyone. But hopefully people laugh.”
just couldn’t want that for my child. I was so the 2018 Florida Film Festival’s Grand Jury
scared that it would destroy him, that he Award for best narrative short.
14 SESP FA LL 2021 15
A L U M N I N E WS
Phillip Styles (BS89) was appointed Inclusive Deborah W. Brooks (BS97) stepped back into Erica Halverson (SOC97, PhD05), professor Kristine McKinney (MSLOC13) was named COO
Partner Network specialty practice leader at the role of CEO of the Michael J. Fox Founda of education at the University of Wisconsin– of global intellectual property law firm Fish &
consulting firm Mercer. tion for Parkinson’s Research. She cofounded Madison, published How the Arts Can Save Richardson. She oversees operations of the
MJFF in 2000 and served as CEO until 2007 Education: Transforming Teaching, Learn- firm’s 14 offices in the US, Europe, and China.
90s and subsequently as executive vice chairman. ing, and Instruction. As an undergraduate, McKinney previously served as the firm’s first
Halverson codirected Griffin’s Tale Children’s chief legal talent and inclusion officer.
Karen Cunningham (MSED90), an award- Jimmie Sanders (BS97) is executive director
Theatre Repertory Company. The experience
winning educator at suburban Chicago’s Glen of the Pre-College TRIO Programs at the Uni Kristin Vonder Haar (MS13) was named
provided the foundation for her research and
brook North High School, died on September 20 versity of California, Berkeley, which provide assistant superintendent of teaching and
Jimmie Sanders teaching. Her new book calls for a change in
after a four-year battle with lung cancer. Even low-income, first-generation-to-college stu learning for Mount Prospect School District 57
what counts as good teaching and learning,
Aryka Radke Hazeen Y. Ashby after her diagnosis, she continued to live life to dents with academic preparation and support in Illinois.
redefined by building learning environments
its fullest, teaching, traveling, laughing, learn services. Last year he received the University
with the arts at the center. She will be speak Iva Aminuddin (MSLOC17), head of the Learn
ing, and raising awareness about lung cancer of Notre Dame’s inaugural Rev. Theodore M.
ing on campus on April 13, 2022. ing Future Group in the Civil Service College
Scott Topal among nonsmokers. Hesburgh, CSC, Distinguished Contributor
of Singapore, was named to the Agile 50 list
Award. “My SESP education was key in making Patrick McGrath (MSED06), president of
Nadine Moore (BS90), managing director at of the most influential people revolutionizing
me the successful access and equity activist Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, was
Boston Consulting Group, was named to the governance. The list celebrates politicians,
that I am,” he says. named pastor of Old St. Patrick’s Church in
board of directors of the Northern Illinois civil servants and entrepreneurs driving
Chicago’s West Loop Gate neighborhood.
Food Group. Allyson L. Bear (BS99), a global health expert, agility in governments all around the world.
was named regional vice president for West Kristin Yates Thomas (MSED07) is director of Aminuddin has two sets of twin boys.
Jeanne M. VanBriesen (BS90, McC93, McC98),
Emily Machado Bobbi Burgstone Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa at communication for the On Your Feet Foun
the Duquesne Light Company Professor of Caroline Gholson (MSLOC19), a senior recruit
the research company Abt Associates. dation, a nonprofit that provides support for
Civil and Environmental Engineering and of ing and development manager for the law firm
people who place their children for adoption.
Kirkland & Ellis, married Andrew Fallon on
Richard (Rick) Settersten
Gabby Nicholas engineering and public policy at Carnegie
Mellon University, was appointed to lead the
00s Emily Machado (BS09) was appointed assis March 6 in Austin, Texas.
chemical, bioengineering, environmental, and Dilara Sayeed (MSED00), founder and CEO of tant professor of early childhood education at
transport systems division at the National peer mentoring platform vPeer, will serve on the University of Wisconsin–Madison. 20s
Science Foundation. the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and
Bryan Saltzburg (BS92) was named chief
Hate Crimes. 10s Gabby Nicholas (MSHE20) is assistant direc
tor of the Center for Cultural Liberation at
operating officer of Aspiration Inc., a fintech Hazeen Y. Ashby (BS01) was appointed senior Scott Topal (BS10), director of operations at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.
company offering sustainable banking and vice president for congressional and inter Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, married Sarah She joins Lisa Malvin (MSHE14), Dominican’s
investing products and tools. He was previ governmental affairs and White House liaison Ariel Attermann on December 10, 2020, in new assistant director of career programs
Erin Allen Mary Anne Talotta Kristine McKinney Eric S. Wohl ously a global president for Trip Advisor. at the Export-Import Bank of the United Bethesda, Maryland. Attermann is director and internships, and Jamie Shaw (MSHE14),
States. of youth and family engagement at North executive director of career programs and
Richard (Rick) Settersten (PhD92) was
Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, employer relations in the university provost’s
named University Distinguished Professor Aaron Hosmon (BS03, MSHE07) is associate
Illinois. office.
60s 80s of Human Development and vice provost for
faculty affairs at Oregon State University. He
executive director for compliance and gover
nance at the Ivy League. Previously he worked Jacob Schmidt (BS11, MSHE17) has been Eric S. Wohl (CERT20) was appointed chief
Roycealee Wood (MS62, MS64), regional John Fiacco (BS83, MBA86) was appointed is the lead author of the new book Living on for 16 years in a variety of roles at Northwest promoted to director of football operations human resources officer at National
superintendent of schools in Lake County, chief growth officer at AVIA, a digital transfor the Edge: An American Generation’s Journey ern, including as director of compliance at Northwestern. Schmidt, a former Wildcats CineMedia, the largest cinema advertising
Illinois, retired after a 50-year educational mation partner for healthcare organizations. through the 20th Century, written with Glen and ethics. running back, has been with the program’s network in the US.
career. Elder and Lisa Pearce. personnel department since 2012.
Ken Graboys (BS85), CEO of the Chartis Group, Mark Thompson (MA03) was named interim
was appointed strategic adviser at Riordan, Erin Allen (BS93) joined Franklin Madison, a CEO for the Gage Center of Forensic Excel Kim Waller (MS11) joined Korn Ferry as a
70s Lewis & Haden Equity Partners, a middle- provider of insurance products and marketing lence, an operation center within the state senior client partner in the firm’s organiza
Ernie Adams (BS75), the New England Patriots’ market growth equity investment firm. services, as enterprise sales regional vice of Washington’s Department of Social and tional strategy practice. She is based in the
director of football research, announced his president. Health Services that will provide state-of-the- Chicago area.
Aryka Radke (BS89) moved across the country
retirement, “capping a 46-year career in foot art mental health services.
after she was appointed Vermont’s deputy Mary Anne Talotta (BS96) was appointed
ball, in which he has both seen and done it all,” commissioner of the family services division senior vice president and chief development Bobbi Burgstone (MSED04) was appointed Send your news to managing editor Julie
Sports Illustrated reported. of the Department for Children and Families officer of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. executive director of Literacy DuPage, one Deardorff at sespalums@northwestern.edu.
within the Agency of Human Services. She was She has spent over 23 years in arts fund of Illinois’s largest volunteer tutor literacy You can also reach us on
previously vice chief administrative law judge raising, most recently at the Guggenheim organizations. Facebook (facebook.com/sespnu)
for the Industrial Commission of Arizona. Museum. Prior to that, she was with the Twitter (twitter.com/sesp_nu)
Whitney Museum of American Art and the Instagram (instagram.com/sesp_nu)
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
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