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  • WCW Contributes to Health Advisory on AI and Adolescent Wellbeing
    NEWS

    WCW Contributes to Health Advisory on AI and Adolescent Wellbeing

    June 2025

    Senior Research Scientist Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., director of the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab, contributed to the American Psychological Association's health advisory calling for guardrails and education to protect adolescent AI users.

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  • WCW Hosts Early Childhood Policy Research Summit
    NEWS

    WCW Hosts Early Childhood Policy Research Summit

    April 2025

    On April 2, 2025, WCW hosted the first Massachusetts Early Childhood Policy Research Summit, a gathering of those who produce and support research and design projects related to the early childhood field in Massachusetts.

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  • Research Points the Way Toward Innovations in Women's Education
    NEWS

    Research Points the Way Toward Innovations in Women's Education

    March 2025

    WCW hosted a virtual parallel event of the 2025 UN Commission on the Status of Women, highlighting the importance of both research and innovation in the education of women and girls around the world.

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  • New Study on the State of Women and Girls in Massachusetts
    NEWS

    New Study on the State of Women and Girls in Massachusetts

    January 2025

    WCW is pleased to announce that it is partnering with the Women’s Foundation of Boston to conduct an in-depth analysis of the state of women and girls across Massachusetts, with a particular emphasis on their economic empowerment.

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  • New Research & Action Report: Celebrating 50 Years of Social Change
    NEWS

    New Research & Action Report: Celebrating 50 Years of Social Change

    December 2024

    This special 50th anniversary edition of the Research & Action Report looks back at some of our most significant accomplishments of the last 50 years—and looks ahead to how our research scientists and project directors are taking that work into the future.

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Wellesley Centers for Women 

is a research and action institute at Wellesley College that is focused on women and gender and driven by social change.
Our mission is to advance gender equality, social justice, and human wellbeing through high-quality research, theory, and action programs.

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WCW Contributes to Health Advisory on AI and Adolescent Wellbeing
Meet the 2024-25 Wellesley College Student Research Interns
WCW Hosts Early Childhood Policy Research Summit
New Study on the State of Women and Girls in Massachusetts
Leadership Change at the Wellesley Centers for Women
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Commentary: So Sexy So Soon

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by Jean Kilbourne, WCW senior scholar
From the Spring/Summer 2009 Research & Action Report

Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., senior scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Women, is internationally recognized for her pioneering work on alcohol and tobacco advertising and the image of women in advertising. Her newest book, So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids, co-authored with Diane E. Levin, was published in 2008. Her book, Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel, won the Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology in 2000. She is also known for her award-winning documentaries Killing Us Softly, Slim Hopes, and Calling the Shots.

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