Monitor on Psychology - December 2011

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Betsy Levonian Morgan, PhD

Adam Mueller

Her search for answers culminated in a co-authored book called “Majoring in Psychology? Career Options for Psychology Undergraduates”; a fifth edition is now in preparation. “We estimate that around

70 percent of students with bachelor’s degrees in psychology do not go on to grad school,” she says. Her passion for career counseling is so well-known that she has a small collection of career-themed Barbie dolls — a collection that started with a gift from a student.

“Sadly,” she says, “there’s no psychologist Barbie that I know of.” n A feminist activist: Morgan has been committed to feminism and what she calls the rest of the “classic isms” since her days as a psychology/women’s studies undergrad. She has written an online textbook on gender psychology, teaches a psychology of women class and serves on the board of a local family planning clinic. “Being able to control when and if one has children is a major part of women’s ability to make choices about their work/life options,”

Psychology professor, author and inadvertent Barbie collector.

says Morgan, who was surprised and

n Member since: 1994.
n What she does: Morgan is a
psychology professor at the University
of Wisconsin at La Crosse. She’s been
there since 1993, hired while she was
still finishing her doctorate in social
ecology from the University of California
at Irvine. After a brief flirtation with
the idea of law school or public policy
grad school, she decided she could effect
change while sticking with her first love:
psychology.
n Guiding undergrads: Morgan’s
passion is helping undergraduates fulfill
their potential. “Undergrads bring fresh
ideas that you can help them get off
the ground,” says Morgan, who credits
her twin 19-year-old sons with helping
her better understand her students. In
addition to helping students blossom,
she enjoys having to master their varied
research topics rather than sticking
with just one. “That’s very intellectually
exciting,” she says.

When she first started teaching and
students started asking what they could
do with an undergraduate psychology
degree, Morgan realized she didn’t know.

disheartened by the vehemently negative
response to a pro-family planning letter
she wrote to the La Crosse Tribune.

A fifth generation Californian who was born and married in Yosemite National Park, Morgan still isn’t accustomed to the Midwest. “People always ask how I got used to the weather,” she says. “Weather is easy; you put on a jacket. Culture shock is a little harder.”