Rate My Professor Dawn Szymanski

Dawn Szymanski is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she also serves as Associate Director of Clinical Training for the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Georgia State University in 2001. Szymanski joined the UT Knoxville faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department in 2006, advanced to Associate Professor with tenure, and was promoted to full Professor. She is a licensed Psychologist in the State of Georgia.

Her research program centers on multicultural feminist psychology, with a focus on how external and internalized forms of oppression—including sexist events, heterosexist experiences, internalized heterosexism, sexual objectification, and multiple minority stressors—impact the mental health of women, sexual minority individuals, and LGBTQ+ people of color. She investigates mediating processes such as rumination and coping styles, as well as protective factors like self-compassion, resilience, activism, and posttraumatic growth. Notable publications include 'Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research' (2011), 'Multiple Minority Stressors and Psychological Distress Among Sexual Minority Women: The Roles of Rumination and Maladaptive Coping' (2011), 'Development and Initial Validation of the Sexual Minority Women Rejection Sensitivity Scale' (2015), 'Lifting Feminist Voices' (2020), and 'How Does Structural Stigma Influence Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer College Students’ Mental Health?' (2025). Her work has advanced theoretical models in feminist and LGBTQ+ psychology and garnered substantial scholarly impact through high citation rates and contributions to measure development.

Szymanski has earned numerous honors, including the Chancellor’s Research and Creative Achievement Award (2022), Chancellor’s Honors Jefferson Award (2011), and UT Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award (2025) from the University of Tennessee; Fellowship in the American Psychological Association Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology); and the Woman of the Year Award from the same division (2012). Since 2019, she has served as Editor-in-Chief of Psychology of Women Quarterly, fostering collaborative editorial practices. She engages in public scholarship via The Conversation, mentors doctoral students, and holds committee roles in professional organizations.