Dr. Shereen Naser Honored with Outstanding Committed Professional Award

Cleveland State University Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Shereen Naser has been selected to receive the Outstanding Committed Professional Award from the American Psychological Association in recognition of her contributions to advancing anti-racism in school psychology.

She will be honored Aug. 8 in Washington, D.C., at the association's annual convention, which brings together thousands of practitioners, researchers, educators, applied psychologists and policymakers from around the world.

“It is an honor to be recognized by colleagues that I so deeply admire, and at the same time I wish this wasn't a needed category of study,” said Naser. “Racism is a pervasive public health crisis, one with serious impacts on our communities. I look forward to a day when it doesn't exist, and we won't need scholarship on it.”

Naser said her research examining how discrimination and racism operate in schools, along with her efforts to provide educators with practical strategies to identify and dismantle those systems, contributed to her receiving the honor. She also credited her collaborations with student researchers and community partners in Cleveland as key factors in the recognition.

“It is a professional and ethical obligation for school psychologists to effectively serve each and every student and family we work with,” she said. “We can't do that without understanding the way our greater environments operate, how our histories have brought us to this present moment, and what concrete actions we can take to ensure every child has access to what they need to realize their full potential.”

Naser often compares the role of a school psychologist to that of a car mechanic. Just as a mechanic gathers information to keep a vehicle running safely and efficiently, she said school psychologists assess the factors affecting a student's well-being, identify potential problems before they escalate and develop solutions when challenges arise.

“We look at all the information to minimize any problems our kids might have on their learning journeys, and to ensure we can address any issues when they do so that kids can thrive,” said Naser. “School psychologists are really great at understanding the psychology of a child in this way, but we still have a lot of work to do in naming and addressing systems around the child that act as barriers to kids realizing their full potential.”

Naser said her work is particularly distinctive because it addresses largely underserved and under researched issues affecting Arab and LGBTQ+ youth, helping to fill critical gaps in school psychology research and practice.

“I am one of the only school psychology researchers currently doing research to explicitly address anti-Arab racism in schools,” said Naser.

Naser said she is deeply grateful for the connections she has made at CSU with fellow researchers, including members of the university's THRiVE collaborative, and for the students who continually remind her why the work of advancing anti-racism matters. 

“Our students come with lived experience, expertise and passion that continuously enriches the work we do together. I am so grateful for their contributions to the research, and their determination in identifying and pushing back against anti-Arab racism, and racism in every form it takes,” she said.

“I believe fully in CSU's mission to engage community partners, and to see CSU as part of the fabric of our northeast Ohio community. The reputation that CSU has built in this way, and it's continued commitment to our community, have paved the way for researchers like me to engage in practical, concrete problem solving and develop meaningful and lasting community relationships.”