Research Team

  

Judi Mesman, Ph.D
Professor Interdisciplinary Study of Societal Challenges
 
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DC The Hague
The Netherlands

[email protected]




Below are all the academic staff and PhD students who are working on research projects with me. All the way at the bottom of the page is a list of PhD students who have graduated.

Judi Mesman

I am a professor at Leiden University, based at both the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs in the Hague, and at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the Education and Child Studies Institute. At Leiden University I enjoy the challenging combination of research, teaching, and societal engagement. Focusing on the study of societal challenges and social justice from an intergenerational perspective, my team and I investigate the role of parents, schools, peers, media, and policies on the development of children and youth, and how they find their place in society. 
        

Ymke de Bruijn, MSc

Ymke de Bruijn completed her research master Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies cum laude at Leiden University in 2017. During her studies she worked as a research and teaching assistant at the institute of Education and Child Studies. Currently, she is a PhD candidate on the NWO-funded research project “Parenting origins of prejudice” and part of the project “Gender and ethnic representation and stereotypes in books for children”. Her research focuses on children’s interethnic attitudes and its relation to interethnic contact, parental ideologies and socialization practices. In addition, she researches representation and diversity messages in children’s books, and is a trained coder of parental sensitivity.

Laura Doornkamp, MSc

Laura Doornkamp is a PhD candidate at the ERC-funded project “Girls in science”. Laura graduated in Public Administration and obtained her teacher qualification in secondary education at Leiden University. Her research focuses on gender representation in the student-teacher relationship in secondary education. She studies the effects of the gender of a teacher on male and female students’ academic performance, and the effect of the gender of a student on male and female teachers’ grading practices.

Rosanneke Emmen, PhD

Rosanneke Emmen obtained her PhD in the Diversity in Parenting Lab in 2014 with her thesis “Positive Parenting in Ethnic Minority Families: Challenges and Outcomes”. In 2014 she started as a postdoc on the ORA-funded project “Risky beginnings” examining maternal and paternal risk in relation to parenting and children’s cognitive development in the first years of life, supervising 3 PhD students. She is currently working as a postdoc in the NWO-funded project “Parenting origins of prejudice” and supervising 4 PhD students. Her research focuses on contextual influences on parenting and child development. She is collaborating with researchers from diverse countries, such as Turkey and Iran. Rosanneke is also working as a lecturer in Education and Child Studies. She is a trained coder of parental sensitivity and is trained in the VIPP-SD parenting intervention program. 

Stefanie van Esveld, MSc

Stefanie van Esveld is a PhD candidate at Leiden University College (in the ERC-funded project "Girls in science") since September 2017. She has a Research Master in Social Psychology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a Bachelor in Psychology from the University of Amsterdam. She wrote her master thesis about gender bias in academia. Now, she is part of an interdisciplinary research group that studies the way adolescents prepare for their future and the role parents and teachers play in this process. Specifically, she focusses on implicit gender stereotypes, adolescents career interests, parental sensitivity, family political discussions, and adolescent self-esteem.

Joyce Gao, MSc

Joyce Gao graduated from the master in the Institute of Developmental and Educational Psychology at East China Normal University, China in 2019. She is currently a PhD candidate at Parenting, Child Care and Development programme group, Leiden University. Dan Gao’s research interests focus on the relation between parenting practices and parent-child interactions and child social-emotional development across different cultural contexts. She is currently involved in the research project: ‘Children’s Interpersonal Trust Development: A Longitudinal Cross-Cultural Study.’

Marleen Groeneveld, PhD

Marleen Groeneveld obtained her PhD in 2010 with a study on quality in home-based childcare, and won the ISED thesis award. She then became a postdoc in the ERC-funded project “Boys will be boys?”, supervising four PhD students. She became assistant professor in 2012 at the Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, and in 2019 at Leiden University College in the Hague. She is currently working in the ERC/funded project ‘Girls in science” and is working on integrating her expertise on professional childcare and gendered adult-child interactions into a new line of research. She is also an expert coder of caregiver sensitivity, discipline, and gender talk and child wellbeing and involvement. 

Astrid Jehle, MSc

Astrid Jehle obtained her Research Master degree in Social- and Work & Organisational Psychology from the University of Amsterdam (UVA) in 2011 with a thesis on the cognitive development of motivation. She continued to work as a tutor and education manager at the UVA and was awarded an ISS teaching innovation grant. Currently she is working in the ERC/funded project “Girls in science” as a PhD student. Her focus is on the development of gender stereotypes and cross-cultural gender stereotypes.

Antoinette Kroes, MSc

Antoinette Kroes obtained a bachelor of education and educational sciences in 2015, and a masters in educational studies in 2016. She has worked as a primary school teacher. In 2017, she started her PhD-project in the ERC-funded study "Girls in Science". Her research focuses on topics like teacher evaluations of children with and without a migration background, the impact of news items on gender attitudes, and gendered patterns in parent-adolescent communication about sexuality and relationships. 

Lotte van der Pol, PhD

Lotte van der Pol obtained her PhD in 2015 in the ERC-funded project “Boys will be boys?” with her thesis: Focus on Feelings: Parental emotion socialization in early childhood. She has worked as an assistant professor at the Centre for Child and Family Studies, and is currently working as a postdoc on the FWOS-funded project “Tomboys and pansies” as well as the ERC-funded project “Girls in science”, in total supervising six PhD students. Her research focuses on family interactions in relation to child socio-emotional development from early childhood to adolescence. Lotte is a trained coder of parental sensitivity, discipline, and emotion talk. She is also trained in the VIPP-SD parenting intervention program.

Fadime Pektas, MSc

Fadime Pektas completed the master 'Child and Family Studies in Education and Child Studies’ at Leiden University in 2013. During and after her study she worked as a research assistant at Leiden University. She also worked as an academic teacher at Erasmus University. Her research focus is on parental sensitivity, parental discrimination experiences, and the development of children’s ethnic prejudice. Currently, she is a PhD candidate on the NWO-funded project “Parenting origins of prejudice”. She is a trained coder of parental sensitivity. 

Tessa van de Rozenberg, MSc

Tessa van de Rozenberg obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Research Master’s degree in Social and Cultural Sciences in 2016 (Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands). During her studies, she worked as student assistant and as Methodology teacher at Radboud University and HAN. In 2017, she started her PhD-project in the ERC/funded study ‘Girls in science”, where she focuses on topics like gender representation, gender roles, and sexuality.

Chrisje Sandelowsky, LLM

In 2017 Chrisje Sandelowsky graduated from the advanced master European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden University (LL.M.) after which she worked at Leiden Law School as junior researcher. Before achieving her advanced LL.M., she worked two years in New York as a pro bono legal volunteer at Sanctuary for Families, a non-profit organisation serving the needs of victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. Before she moved to New York, she was admitted to the Dutch bar as an attorney and worked five years in private law firms in the Netherlands, specializing in labor law and corporate law. In 2009 she completed her master's degree in Dutch Private Law from the University of Amsterdam. 

Mariya Shcherbinina, MSc

Mariya Shcherbinina is a therapist, specialized in supporting LGBT+ and expat clients. She has her own practice, and serves as a Student Life Counsellor at Leiden University College. She is currently also doing her PhD on the topic of coming-out narratives of LGBTQ+ individuals. 

Daudi van Veen, MSc

Daudi van Veen completed his BA in Psychology (2014) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his MSc (2017) in Interdisciplinary Social Science (track: Social Policy and Social Interventions) at Utrecht University. His research focuses on how adults and children acquire their views on status, social hierarchy, and ethnic diversity. Currently, he’s a PhD candidate at the faculty of Governance and Global Affairs at Leiden University. He is a part of the research project “Parenting origin of prejudice” (which is NWO-funded) and “Gender and ethnic representation and stereotypes in books for children”.  

Yiran Yang, MSc

Yiran Yang completed her MSc in Education at the University of Edinburgh in the UK in 2013. After her study, she worked as an English teacher. Currently, she is a PhD candidate on the project “Parenting origins of prejudice” and “Ethnic representation in Chinese books for children”. Her research focuses on children’s interethnic relationship, parental sensitivity and parental ethnic socialization strategy, especially in minority groups in the Netherlands. In addition, she is interested in postcolonial issues from the perspective of White overrepresentation in children’s books in Chinese context. 

Former PhD students 

NAME (YEAR OF GRADUATION) TOPIC OF THESIS (FUNDING SOURCE)

  • Mi-lan Woudstra (2022) Partners, parents, and childrearing beliefs (NWO-ERA)
  • Ymke de Bruijn (2022) Parenting and prejudice (NWO-Vici)
  • Wei Li (2021) Self-regulation in Dutch and Chinese infants (CSC)
  • Khadija Alsarhi (2020) Parenting in the slums of Taiz, Yemen (Nuffic)
  • Regina Loehndorf (2018) Parenting and child development in Chile (CONICYT)
  • Marieke Beckerman (2018) Parental attributions and discipline strategies (UL)
  • Roxanna Camfferman (2017) Parenting and early childhood overweight (UL)
  • Sheila van Berkel (2015) Parenting siblings (ERC)
  • Joyce Endendijk (2015) Gendered socialization by mothers and fathers (ERC)
  • Liesbeth Hallers (2015) Parenting by fathers and mothers (ERC)
  • Lotte van der Pol (2015) Emotion socialization and gender (UL)
  • Rosanneke Emmen (2014) Parenting in Turkish-Dutch families (NORFACE)
  • Marielle Prevoo (2014) Parenting and bilingualism (NORFACE)
  • Hatice Ekmekci (2014) Parenting beliefs in Turkish minority mothers (UL)
  • Nihal Yeniad (2013) Executive functions in minority children (NORFACE)
  • Katharina Joosen (2012) Predictors of harsh parenting in early childhood (UL)
  • Ayse Yaman (2009) Parenting in Turkish minority families (NWO)
  • Mirjam Stolk (2007) Parenting intervention processes (ZON) 
  • Jantien van Zeijl (2006) Parenting and externalizing problems in toddlers (ZON)
  • Lenneke Alink (2006) Early childhood aggression (ZON)



PHD GRADUATES CO-SUPERVISED AT OTHER UNIVERSITIES
 

  • Carolina Toscana (2021) Minho University Portugal
  • Ana Carla Ribeiro (2017) Rio de Janeiro State University, Brazil 
  • Melis Yavuz (2015) Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
  • Mariana Pereira (2013) Minho University, Portugal
  • Mariana Negrao (2013) Minho University, Portugal