Assistant Professor
Dr. Inan – She is originally from Turkey and a lover of learning and of teaching, and a true believer in the transformative potential of higher education. In addition to her work teaching psychology, Dr. Inan mentors undergraduates both domestic and international to prepare them to go to next steps such as graduate studies. She believes that the best rewarding part of being a professor in psychology is to have an opportunity to talk with young brain and mind in fruitful ways.
Dr. Inan research includes parent-child relationships, academic achievement, and acculturative stress, studied within a cognitive-developmental framework. I specifically focus on math achievement in mother-daughter dyads with minority backgrounds. Another line of research investigates the effects of acculturative stress and the maintenance of languages of heritage in bilingual mother-child dyads. Her teaching philosophy highlights the importance of building trust-worthy relationships with various backgrounds of students, and she highly values the contributions of inside and outside of classroom services to promote an inclusive and diverse campus at Mercyhurst University.
- Ph.D., Brain, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology, 2021
- The dissertation title: Influence of Turkish Immigrant Parents Acculturation Strategies and Language Attitudes on Children’s Bilingual Development: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study.
- M.A., Brain, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology, 2018
- Thesis title: “Categorization Skills in Children: The Relationship between Maternal Strategy Use and Child Strategy Use
- B.A., Psychology as Major, Social Work and Religion as Minors, Eastern Michigan University, 2016
- Dr. Inan’s research includes parent-child relationships, academic achievement, and acculturative stress, studied within a cognitive-developmental framework. She specifically focuses on math achievement in mother-daughter dyads with minority backgrounds. Another line of research investigates the effects of acculturative stress and the maintenance of languages of heritage in bilingual mother-child dyads.
- PSYC 101: Introduction to Psychology
- PSYC 142: Lifespan Development
- PSYC 203/204: Majoring in Psychology
- PSYC 233: Cross-Cultural Psychology
- PSYC 237: Memory and Cognition
- PSYC 241: Developmental Psychology: Children
- PSYC 242: Developmental Psychology: Adolescence
- Manuscripts
- Harris, Y.R., Inan., S., Woodbury, G., Modirrousta, A.D., Lawal., A. (2023) Does Parental Self-Efficacy Predict Math Performance Among Black American School-Age Children?" Negro Journal. (accepted).
- Inan, S., Harris, Y.R. , Woodbury, G. (2023) Categorization Skills in Children: The Relationship between Maternal Strategy Use and Child Strategy Use. Frontiers in Psychology (under revision International Journal of Early Years Education).
- Inan, S., Harris., Y.R., Woodbury, G., Ertanir, B (2022). Parental Acculturation and Language Attitudes on Children's Heritage Language Proficiency in Turkish Families in the U.S. (under revision in Heritage Language Journal).
- Inan, S., Nisanci, A., Harris, Y (2022) Preserving Heritage Language in Turkish Families in the U.S. (under process).
- Conference Oral Presentations
- Inan, S. (2023). “How to Support College Students of Color in the Age of Intolerance in the Classroom Environment. National Institution on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP) Tampa, Florida.
- Inan, S. (2022). Compassion as a Strategy to Ameliorate Stress in the Classroom. National Institution on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP) Tampa, Florida.
- Inan, S., Heerboth, M., Elsharnouby, E. (2022). Anxiety Inhibits Learning: Using Compassion as a Strategy to Ameliorate Stress in Intro-Level Psychology Class. (NITOP). Tampa, FL.
- Modirrousta, A., Green., Harris., Y.R., Woodbury, G., Inan., S. (2021). The Role of Parental Math Beliefs on Math Competency in African American School Children. Association for Psychological Science (APS). Virtual Event.
- Inan, S., Harris, Y.R., Woodbury, G. (2021). Influence of Turkish Immigrant Parents Acculturation Strategies and Language Attitudes on Children’s Dual Language Processes. Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD).
- Inan, S., Harris, Y.R., Almutairi, S. (2019). Discussions with Mothers about the Intergenerational Transmission of Math Anxiety. Annual Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) Chicago.
- Peer-Reviewed Poster Presentations (*Signifies equal contribution)
- Harris, Y.R., Inan, S., Modirrousta, A., Lawal, A. (June, 2022). Negotiating Number Knowledge during a Math Game: A Pilot Exploration of African American Mothers and their Preschool Children. (Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society Conference 2022 in Belgium).
- Inan, S. (November 2021). Influence of Turkish Immigrant parent Acculturation Strategies and Language Attitudes on Children’s attitudes on Children’s Bilingual Development: An Embedded Mixed Methods of Study. (The Annual Harvard Women in Psychology Trends in Psychology Summit).
- Aydin, N., Inan, S. (November2021). Qualitative analysis of the Impact of Imposter Syndrome on Muslim Female Psychology Doctoral Students. (The Annual Harvard Women in Psychology Trends in Psychology Summit).
- Heerboth, M., Inan, S. (November 2021). Women's relational mistakes are judged more harshly. (The Annual Harvard Women in Psychology Trends in Psychology Summit).
- Modirrousta, A., Inan, S., Lawal,A., Woodbury, G., Capriolo, S., Green, A., Bey, S., Harris, Y. (November 2021). The Relationship Between Parental Academic Involvement and Math Performance in African American School-Age Children (NCRF). Interactive Poster presentation in the Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families (REDF) Section. Virtual Event
Dr. Inan has taught across the psychology curriculum during her time at Mercyhurst University. Specifically, she enjoys teaching developmental psychology classes such as Lifespan Development, Child Development and Adolescence Development for the department’s majors and minors.