Dr. Oyenike Balogun-Mwangi

As a counseling psychologist, my research and clinical interests focus on mental health disparities, cross-cultural issues in mental health, and body image among African women, including my most recent examination of the impact of multiple stigmas among black adults with serious mental illness in employment contexts. My scholarship has been funded by the American Association of University Women as well as a post-doctoral training grant awarded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation.

A scientist-practitioner whose contributions are informed by my research and clinical work, I'm currently working with colleagues to put together findings on my mixed-methods study on body image among African women, which places important attention to non-weight-related aspects of body image among the population (hair texture, skin tone and facial features).

I draw on qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches in my work, which requires novel approaches to asking questions about poorly understood experiences among marginalized populations. I employ an intersectional lens by taking into account the ways in which social categorizations such as race, class, gender and sexual orientation are interconnected and often create, for particular individuals or groups, a complex system of discrimination and disadvantage. Evidence of this intersectional approach can be found in my collaborative research on microaggressions among racial and sexual minorities.

I completed my predoctoral internship at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts Mental Health Center, and my post-doctoral research training was completed at Boston University's Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation.