Prof. Meg Bond has a full and interesting career.
She teaches in the community social psychology graduate program in the Psychology Department. She conducts research and guides students in becoming effective researchers themselves. She directs the Center for Women and Work: a community of scholars for faculty, staff and students from diverse disciplines.
But, like most students, Bond did not start out knowing what path to follow.
“I knew I wanted to help people,” she says. “I had attended a multiracial high school where, as a white girl, I was in a minority. That taught me a lot about relating with people across our differences.”
After college, Bond worked for a developmental disabilities institute, experiencing first-hand the ways different groups have conflicting perspectives and deciding to pursue applied research. Even in graduate school, she felt something was missing until discovering a program in community psychology.
In its focus on empowerment and changing social conditions to improve people’s lives, she found a professional home.
“Community psychology has allowed me to pursue both my interests – helping individuals and addressing the systemic causes of injustice,” says Bond, who sees UMass Lowell as a place that values its community partnerships and honors interdisciplinary work.
“I see students enter our master’s program with the same passions I had,” she says. “I help them to become effective change agents, learning to ground their actions in research and to develop frameworks for thinking about the world.”