The Team
Directed by Emily Bullock Yowell, Ph.D.
Vocational Psychology Research Team Mission: Work together to support the research of individuals and team projects while concentrating on research that can be directly applied to the public to aid in individuals' career and personal development.
Whether people call it a destiny, passion, fit, calling, or life story; the vocational psychology research team will help people find it!
The Vocational Psychology Research Team engages in a variety of projects focused on career development as it relates to interests, assessment, intervention effectiveness, decision making, thinking, self efficacy, spirituality, military transitions, cultural implications, family issues, first generation college students, and career development of under-research or marginalized populations. This is accomplished through individual projects (e.g., theses, dissertation, master's projects) and team research projects. To learn more about our research team members, recent & ongoing projects, and recent conference presentations visit the pages below.
Research Team Members
Nikkie A. Bailey is a first-year Counseling Psychology doctoral student from Raleigh, NC. She received her M.S. in counseling psychology from USM. She received her BSW in Social Work from Mississippi College and her MSW in Social Work with a concentration in Clinical Social Work from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Her research interest(s) include understanding the relationship between personality, vocational interests, career development and academic pursuits. Currently she is working on research to determine if information seeking behavior(s) and information source preferences differ for minority students while also looking at the impact that information processing has on the career and academic decidedness of minority college students. Nikkie’s hope is to disseminate research which focuses on vocational matters involving minority and diverse populations.
Tyler Ward is a second-year Counseling Psychology master's student from Prairieville, LA. He received a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S. in Biological Sciences with minors in Political Science and History from Louisiana State University. His research areas of interest include interests, tolerance for uncertainty, psychological flexibility, and how those factors affect career decision-making and general mental health. Tyler is actively working on a project to explore retention of career decision-making skills. Upon completion of the master's program, he aims to pursue a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology.
Emily Jones is a USM senior Psychology major. She transferred to USM last year after completing her Associate degree at Jones Jr. College. After graduation, Emily hopes to continue her education in a PhD Counseling program with an emphasis on women's issues.
Kendall Klumpp is a fifth-year Counseling Psychology doctoral candidate. She is from Birmingham, Alabama, and she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Studio Art from Auburn University. Her thesis, The Impact of a CASVE-CQ Enhanced Intervention on Group Career Counseling Outcomes, focused on introducing a new measure of career decision making to a group counseling setting. Her dissertation, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Career Decision Making in College Students: Investigating the Moderating Effects of Perceived COVID-19 Impact and Ambiguity Tolerance, is focused on potential predictive and resiliency factors for trauma-exposed individuals undergoing career decisions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Kendall hopes that her theory-based research will inform career counseling practices to enhance client experience and improve career counseling outcomes. She hopes to embark on a career at a university counseling center where she will continue to engage in research and practice. Kendall is currently on pre-doctoral internship at Clemson University's counseling center.
Sara Driver is a fourth year Counseling Psychology doctoral candidate. She is from Garland, Texas, and received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2018 and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health from the University of Denver in 2020. Her research interests include interactions between career development and social class, as well as career development in those with marginalized identities. Sara completed a master’s project examining the impact of psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate college student career development. This manuscript was accepted for publication in the Swiss Psychology Open. Her dissertation, A Comparison Study of Vocational Factors Influencing Academic Satisfaction for Marginalized and Majority Students, focused on perceptions of future decent work and future occupational prestige in marginalized and majority undergraduate college students and how these perceptions influenced current academic satisfaction. She successfully defended her dissertation in Summer 2023. Sara is currently on pre-doctoral internship with the Bureau of Prisons at FDC/FCI Tallahassee in Tallahassee, Florida and hopes to continue on the Bureau of Prisons upon completion of her doctoral degree.
Tyler Ward is a second-year Counseling Psychology master's student from Prairieville, LA. He received a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S. in Biological Sciences with minors in Political Science and History from Louisiana State University. His research areas of interest include interests, tolerance for uncertainty, psychological flexibility, and how those factors affect career decision-making and general mental health. Tyler is actively working on a project to explore retention of career decision-making skills. Upon completion of the master's program, he aims to pursue a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology.
Emily Jones is a USM senior Psychology major. She transferred to USM last year after completing her Associate degree at Jones Jr. College. After graduation, Emily hopes to continue her education in a PhD Counseling program with an emphasis on women's issues.
Kendall Klumpp is a fifth-year Counseling Psychology doctoral candidate. She is from Birmingham, Alabama, and she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Studio Art from Auburn University. Her thesis, The Impact of a CASVE-CQ Enhanced Intervention on Group Career Counseling Outcomes, focused on introducing a new measure of career decision making to a group counseling setting. Her dissertation, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Career Decision Making in College Students: Investigating the Moderating Effects of Perceived COVID-19 Impact and Ambiguity Tolerance, is focused on potential predictive and resiliency factors for trauma-exposed individuals undergoing career decisions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Kendall hopes that her theory-based research will inform career counseling practices to enhance client experience and improve career counseling outcomes. She hopes to embark on a career at a university counseling center where she will continue to engage in research and practice. Kendall is currently on pre-doctoral internship at Clemson University's counseling center.
Sara Driver is a fourth year Counseling Psychology doctoral candidate. She is from Garland, Texas, and received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2018 and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health from the University of Denver in 2020. Her research interests include interactions between career development and social class, as well as career development in those with marginalized identities. Sara completed a master’s project examining the impact of psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate college student career development. This manuscript was accepted for publication in the Swiss Psychology Open. Her dissertation, A Comparison Study of Vocational Factors Influencing Academic Satisfaction for Marginalized and Majority Students, focused on perceptions of future decent work and future occupational prestige in marginalized and majority undergraduate college students and how these perceptions influenced current academic satisfaction. She successfully defended her dissertation in Summer 2023. Sara is currently on pre-doctoral internship with the Bureau of Prisons at FDC/FCI Tallahassee in Tallahassee, Florida and hopes to continue on the Bureau of Prisons upon completion of her doctoral degree.