The Class of 1967 Internship Program at the Wellesley Centers for Women

Mentor: Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D.

Mentor: Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D.

Subject of Intern's Project: Dr. Charmaraman leads several research projects within the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab pertaining to the risks and benefits of using social technologies in adolescence. These projects include a) survey and interview studies of middle school students and their parents on how they manage social technology use, b) co-designing digital wellbeing workshops with and for middle school youth, c) collecting and analyzing survey data related to online civic engagement and identity (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, political). Depending on funding at the time of the internship, the intern may be involved in projects related to a) helping neurodivergent youth use social media in healthy ways, b) understanding the role of social media in civic engagement, and/or exploring how dogs can help with wellbeing, social-emotional coping skills, and screen time. Because disseminating our research findings is key to making positive changes in our communities, our intern will actively engage in disseminating our upcoming events and research findings such as maintaining a strong Instagram presence for our lab @youthmediawellbeing. Dr. Charmaraman crafts a tailored program of mentored research depending on the intern’s interests and academic/career goals (e.g., grad school, nonprofit work). In addition, there is a possibility of co-publishing a peer-reviewed article depending on the motivation and dedication level of the intern.

Intern's Responsibilities:

• Support research activities across multiple projects
• Search for relevant literature for reports, manuscripts, and grant proposals
• Write literature summaries
• Format documents and reference lists
• Manage an interview codebooks
• Learn NVivo to analyze qualitative data
• Work with a team to interpret quantitative and qualitative results
• Co-presenting works-in-progress at WCW lecture series, Ruhlman conference, or community-based webinar; Interest in presenting at a national conference (all expenses paid!)
• Assist with writing blogs, social media postings, website content, infographics, and/or research briefs about project findings
• Ability to meet on a regular basis at Simpson Cottage and arrange schedule to meet intern-related deadlines. For instance, a typical 10-hr weekly schedule is to meet in-person for 5-6 hours each week, then work independently to complete the work.

Skills Required:

• Enthusiasm for participating in team-based research and action projects related to adolescent social media use
• Some coursework in at least one of the following fields is required: psychology, education, statistics, sociology, ethnic studies, women's and gender studies, communications, computer science, media, arts, & sciences, social science methods (quantitative or qualitative)
• Ability to multitask and respond to work requests by email in a timely manner
• Excellent written communication and copyediting skills
• Prior experience working with youth aged 10-17 desirable (e.g., summer camp, mentorship programs, tutoring, etc.)
• Experience with creating Instagram posts and design using Canva
• Experience with Qualtrics, SPSS or R a plus
• Pet lovers encouraged to apply
• Preference for students who have taken Dr. Charmaraman's EDUC 328 Calderwood course offered each fall or YMW lab students.

Requisition number: 

Mentor: Pashtana Durrani

Subject of the Intern’s Project: This research-focused internship is an opportunity for students passionate about community development, humanitarian response, and sustainable social change—particularly in conflict zones such as Afghanistan. Under the mentorship of Pashtana Dorani, a globally recognized education advocate and Wellesley’s International Scholar-in-Residence, the intern will contribute to research projects examining grassroots interventions, gender-focused advocacy, and crisis response strategies.

The role is designed for students seeking meaningful experience in qualitative research, literature reviews, and data synthesis related to international development and women’s rights in conflict-affected regions.

This is a research-centered internship that emphasizes applied learning in an academic context, providing students with a chance to deepen their understanding of grassroots development in crisis zones, with a special focus on the role of Afghan women and girls in shaping community resilience.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct literature reviews on humanitarian interventions, grassroots movements, and women-led responses to crisis.
• Compile and organize research findings for internal reports, presentations, and publications.
• Assist in analyzing case studies and reports from organizations working in Afghanistan and similar contexts.
• Help identify key themes and best practices in community-driven development and advocacy.
• Provide administrative and editorial support on research outputs.
• Participate in research meetings and offer insights to strengthen ongoing work.

Skills Required:

• This internship is ideal for students who are detail-oriented, curious, and eager to contribute to academic research on global issues with real-world implications.
• Strong interest in international development, gender justice, crisis response, or nonprofit work.
• Experience with academic research, especially literature reviews and qualitative analysis.
• Excellent writing, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
• Upperclass students and those with prior research experience are encouraged to apply.

Requisition Number: 

Mentor: Jennifer Grossman, Ph.D.

Subject of Intern's Project: Collaborate to adapt an online program to support healthy father-teen conversations about sex and relationships and healthy decision-making for LGBTQ+ teens.  

Intern's Responsibilities: The intern will collaborate with the project team to revise online curriculum materials and activities including videos and graphics, and analyze and write up qualitative feedback data on the program. The intern will have opportunities to learn about adolescent development, family-teen relationships, LGBTQ+ teen health and family communication, and sex education programs, as well program development and how to conduct qualitative research. 

Skills Required: High level of organization and motivation. Interest in LGBTQ+ teens and families, sex education and program development. Strong analytic skills. Familiarity with or willingness to learn: qualitative coding and data analysis, and Vyond program development software. 

Experience intern can expect to gain: Program development and evaluation, qualitative data collection, coding, and analysis, and collaborative research.

Requisition number: 

Mentor: Nyasha Karimakwenda, Ph.D.

Subject of Intern's Project: Anchored within the Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Unit of the Wellesley Centers for Women, Dr. Nyasha Karimakwenda (Wellesley College ‘03), is expanding the Unit’s focus and work on Africa. As part of this expansion, she is exploring directions for activist and feminist research on the subject of violence against sexual orientation and gender identity minorities in Africa, as well as the Diaspora. This encompasses Africans who embrace fluid ways of self-identifying and living that are locally cultivated and rooted in African cultures and histories. It also includes Africans who identify with the global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trsansgender, Queer + rubric. We adopt the term ‘queer’ as a flexible and non-Western descriptor for the breadth of diverse practices and identities in Africa and the Diaspora. Pending funding, Dr. Karimakwenda also plans to host a Symposium at Wellesley College in the Spring of 2027 which will bring together activists, scholars, youth and allies who support or care about the rights and wellbeing of queer Africans and African Diasporans.

The internship will focus on desktop and literature-based research on anti-queer violence in Africa as well as the Diaspora. It will also entail identifying and liaising with actors and communities that we may partner with for future research projects and the Symposium. The research undertaken through the internship will help to strengthen our knowledge of the landscape of anti-queer violence and to highlight thematic areas where research can be strengthened. You will also have the opportunity to cultivate your own particular interests in the area of anti-queer violence or related themes, and to author or co-author opinion pieces and papers under the guidance of Dr. Karimakwenda.

Intern's Responsibilities:

• Following and documenting news developments concerning repression of queer African and African Diasporan populations, including regressive law reform.
• Identifying scholars and activists who support queer identities and who work to address discrimination against queer people in Africa and the Diaspora.
• Distilling the current themes and gaps in research concerning violence against queer Africans and Diasporans. 
• Should funding for the Symposium be secured, helping to identify participants to invite.
• Engaging in some administrative duties to support preparation for the Symposium including emailing participants, and putting together symposium materials. 
• Responsibilities will be undertaken through a combination of in-person and remote work

Skills required:

• An empathetic but resilient nature so that you are able to sensitively research the subject of violence in its different forms including physical, sexual and psychological harms.
• Knowledge of or interest in Africa and the African Diaspora whether through academic study or lived experience.
• An interest in feminism (broadly defined as working towards the liberation of women and others detrimentally impacted by patriarchal systems).
• An understanding and acceptance of fluid sexual orientation and gender identities.
• Experience in conducting literature or field-based research in the areas of sociology; Africana Studies; women, gender and sexuality studies; anthropology; history; psychology or other related fields.
• Strong writing and analytical skills, and the ability to think creatively. 
• Able to relate to and communicate well with people from different backgrounds and cultures.
• Able to complete tasks in a timely and responsible manner and to work independently when needed.

Requisition number: 

Mentor: Kate Price, Ph.D.

Subject of Intern's Project: As part of WCW’s Justice and Gender Based Violence Research Initiative, Dr. Price is launching a mixed methods research study on familial commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), particularly child sex trafficking and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This project aims to learn from adult FC-CSEC lived experience experts, perpetrators (i.e., traffickers and sex offenders), non-offending family members, criminal legal system agents, and service providers to advance our understanding of FC-CSEC to inform commercial sexual exploitation theory, policy, and practice, with an emphasis on greater inclusion of familial CSEC lived experience experts. In addition to being a researcher and advocate, Dr. Price is a familial CSEC survivor, and many members of the study’s research team and advisors are also familial and non-familial CSEC lived experience experts. Next, Dr. Price is also publishing her memoir, This Happened to Me: A Reckoning, this August with Simon & Schuster. This personal and theoretical work embodies WCW’s mission of combining research and action. Last but not least, Dr. Price is a consultant for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and serves on anti-human trafficking tasks forces and policy working groups. As an intern, you will engage in various tasks related to each of these projects.

Responsibilities:

• Support research and advocacy activities across multiple projects.
• Conduct literature searches for reports, manuscripts, funding applications, and other products of the work
• Conduct various online searches (e.g., tracking federal- and state-level policy initiatives including federal CSAM protections and state-level bills to prevent the arrest and/or prosecution of minors for prostitution) and organize/summarize the material found
• Read and digest technical reports, news stories, and other sources of information
• Prepare bibliographies
• Transcribe data, including interviews
• Provide input on data analysis and interpretation, including gender-based theoretical analysis
• Assist with preparation of various visual formats for qualitative and quantitative data presentations
• Occasionally attend online team meetings
• Write a blog about your experiences and learnings for the WCW blog
• Other tasks, as needed

Skills Required:

• Ability to work with ease using both Word and Google platforms and products
• Excellent online search and data management skills
• Excellent written, verbal, and graphic communication skills
• Strong professional communication skills (email, phone, in-person)
• Ability to proofread for both content and technical writing errors
• Ability to create bibliographies in ASA, APA, and Chicago styles
• First-hand experience interacting with vulnerable populations (i.e. working/volunteering at a crisis hotline, shelter, or clinic)
• Strongly preferred: First-hand experience working on anti-human trafficking initiatives
• Strongly preferred: Coursework related to gender and cultural studies
• Preferred: Coursework related to social sciences
• A self-starter who works well independently but is also highly communicative
• Ability to both meet in person and work remotely on a weekly basis, as well as to interface with various WCW personnel, as needed, especially when Dr. Price is traveling

Requisition number: 

Mentor: Wendy Wagner Robeson, Ed.D.

Currently, several research projects are being conducted under the umbrella of Work, Families and Children at the Wellesley Centers for Women. Much of our work is on child development (birth to age 8) and early education and care. I am willing to supervise any research project a student wishes to complete on any topic in human development, early education and care as well as on any topic that includes children, women, families or work.

The intern will develop an independent project that will be completed over the academic year. Projects may include data collection through surveys, observations or interviews. They may also be more academic in nature and delve deeper into a current problem or concern of interest to the student. Often our interns have done both and use surveys, observations and interviews to supplement and support their research. Supervision and mentoring will be provided to help guide the intern.

Intern's Responsibilities: Develop a topic of exploration and accompanying research questions, complete a literature review, design a study, collect data, do analyses, write a paper, and present at the Ruhlman conference. Weekly meetings with Dr. Robeson will take place.

Skills Required: The intern must be able to work well independently. Having prior psychology classes in child development or education classes is a plus. Prior work in conducting analyses is also a plus but not a requirement.

Requisition number: 

Apply in Workday. Log into the “My Wellesley” portal and select “Workday”. Go to the Career worklet in your Workday main menu. You can then search by the requisition number to locate the role and apply for the position. The requisition number for each internship is noted under the description.

Any registered Wellesley College student with a GPA of at least 3.0 may apply for the Class of 1967 Internship Program. Students must be registered at the College during the year of the internship. Interested students should become acquainted with the mission of WCW and the work of their desired mentor.

If there are any questions about WCW’s internships, please email wcw@wellesley.edu. If there are questions about the application process in Workday, please contact Wellesley College Student Employment at studentemployment@wellesley.edu.

I am a first year student and only have shadow grades. Can I apply?

Yes. There is a way of showing your actual grades on your transcript. Please send your transcript in a way that displays those grades.

I will graduate in December during the internship year. Can I apply?

Yes, you can apply provided you meet the other qualifications. Note: it is ultimately up to the mentor whether or not a December graduation will be okay in their situation.

I am going to be abroad for a semester next year. Can I apply?

Yes, you can apply. Note: it is ultimately up to the mentors whether or not a semester abroad will be okay in their situation.

Thanks to the generous donors who make these internships possible:

• The Anne Murray Ladd Student Internship was established in 2005 by family and friends in memory of Anne Murray Ladd, a 1998 Wellesley College Honors graduate.
• The Linda Coyne Lloyd Student Research Internship was established in 1998 by family and friends in memory of Linda Coyne Lloyd '63, a long-time, active supporter of the Wellesley Centers for Women. This internship gives preference to students who are interested in engaging in policy-oriented research.
• Shirley R. Sherr Student Research Internship was established in 1998 by a generous gift from Lynn Sherr '63, and her sister, Lois Dubin, in honor of their mother.
• The Class of 1967 Internship was established by a generous gift from the Wellesley College Class of 1967, in 1992 on the occasion of its 25th reunion.
• The Morse Fellowship was established in 1992 by a generous gift from Richard P. Morse and Claire Wien Morse '57. This fellowship gives preference to students with career interests in the fields of mental health or wellbeing.