Margaret Bull Kovera, PhD

Candidates’ statements reflect their own views and do not represent the positions of APA or APA Services, Inc.

Statement on issues currently facing psychology

Psychology stands at a pivotal moment. Many of the most pressing challenges we face arise not from within our field, but from powerful external forces that demand a unified and courageous response. Yet, we would be wrong to look only outward. Some of our most consequential debates are ones we are having with ourselves about who gets to practice, who gets to be trained, and who gets to belong. These are not easy conversations, but they are the ones a healthy, confident discipline must be willing to have. I am ready to have them with you.

As a member of the APA Board of Directors and a candidate for President-Elect, I believe we must meet this moment together—united and unafraid—to protect what we have built, adapt to what is changing, and seize the opportunities that challenges so often reveal when they are met with creativity and experience.

Take the debate over licensing master's-level professionals. For some members, this development represents a threat to the standards and identity of our discipline. For others, it is a long-overdue step toward inclusion, one that will bring essential psychological services to communities that have gone without them for too long. But we do not have to choose between rigor and access. With the right framework, we can protect training standards while expanding the reach of psychological expertise. What we cannot afford, especially given the external threats we face, is to let this debate become a fracture. United, we can find a path that protects the public, improves access, and strengthens the whole field.

Another pressing issue is the emergence of artificial intelligence. AI is reshaping how we work, how we publish, and how people seek help. The proliferation of AI chatbots and digital companions claiming therapeutic benefit presents both genuine promise and serious risk. APA must lead, not follow, in advancing rigorous research on the effectiveness, limitations, and potential harms of these tools, while also serving as a trusted public voice about their responsible use. But our role does not end there. We must develop clear standards for AI use in publication and scientific communication. We must contribute our expertise to identifying and eliminating the algorithmic biases that can shape employment decisions for millions of people. I have worked and hope to continue working with staff and Board members to develop partnerships aimed at developing and testing AI safeguards—particularly for children, adolescents, and emerging adults, who are most vulnerable and most in need of our advocacy—that could also provide much-needed new revenue streams for our organization.

On top of the future uncertainties about the impact of AI, the values we hold as psychologists are under direct assault. Efforts by federal and state actors to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion from education threaten the multicultural competence that is not a nicety; it is the foundation of effective care. We must stand firm in defense of these standards. That means protecting APA's accreditation role, which is the most powerful lever we have for ensuring that the next generation of health service psychologists is trained to serve all people well. It also means finding legally sound ways to sustain programs that create equitable pathways into the profession for people from traditionally marginalized backgrounds. The law in this space is changing rapidly, and navigating it requires both scientific judgment and legal literacy. My training and experience in reading and interpreting the law equip me to help our field move through this landscape strategically, minimizing what we lose and maximizing what we can maintain.

In addition to attacks on diversity and inclusion, we are experiencing attacks on the very underpinnings of our field. Our practice, our applied work, our educational programs, and our public impact all rest on a foundation of rigorous science. That foundation is now at risk. Proposals to gut funding at the National Institutes of Health and to eliminate the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation would cause harm that would take generations to undo. As a scientist who has received continuous federal funding for nearly three decades, I understand viscerally what is at stake, not just for individual researchers, but for every practitioner whose work is informed by that research, and for every member of the public whose care depends on it. We must do everything in our power to prevent the politicization of funding decisions. The integrity of peer review is not a procedural detail. It is the mechanism by which science earns and keeps the public's trust.

We must also ensure that the next generation can join us in our efforts. Graduate training must remain accessible. APA successfully advocated for higher federal loan caps for psychology degrees leading to licensure: a real win. But nearly half of psychology students saw their access to federal loans cut in half. That is not good enough. We must continue pressing for federal loan and fellowship mechanisms that ensure individuals from all backgrounds have an equitable path into our discipline. Psychology is stronger when it reflects the full range of human experience. Building that pipeline is not just an act of fairness—it is an investment in the quality of the science and practice that will define our field's future.

These challenges are real. Some of them are urgent. None of them is insurmountable, not if we face them together, with clear eyes and the courage to act. Psychology has the knowledge, the tools, and the people to meet this moment. What we need is leadership that brings us together rather than driving us apart, that listens as well as it speaks, and that is willing to make hard calls on behalf of all members: practitioners, applied psychologists and scientists, early-career psychologists and those later in their careers, those who look like the profession's past and those who represent its future.

That is the leadership I am offering. United and unafraid, we can protect what matters most and build something even better.

Learn more at mbk4apa.comopens in new window.

Margaret Bull Kovera is a presidential scholar and professor in the psychology department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice—CUNY. She earned her BA from Northwestern University and her PhD from the University of Minnesota. She is an award-winning teacher and an internationally recognized expert on eyewitness identification and legal decision-making. For over 25 years, Kovera had continuous funding from federal agencies for her research, primarily from the National Science Foundation. Her 2019 paper on racial disparities in the criminal legal system was cited in Dr. Arthur Evans’s congressional testimony on racial bias in policing in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and both the APA resolutions on dismantling systemic racism. She has an active private practice providing consultation to courts, including helping attorneys to secure the release of four men who had been wrongfully convicted. She also participated in the revision of the city of Detroit’s policies on the use of facial recognition in criminal investigations to help prevent continuing wrongful arrests.

Kovera is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (including Divisions 8, 9, and 41) and a member of APA Divisions 1, 2, 3, 13, 35, 42, and 45. She has served as the editor-in-chief of Law and Human Behavior, a journal published by APA, as well as a liaison to the Publications and Communications committee, providing her with deep experience in the publishing work of APA. She has served as treasurer of Divisions 9 (Society of the Psychological Study of Social Issues) and 41 (American Psychology-Law Society), leading both organizations through difficult financial times and leaving them in stronger financial positions. She also served as president of Division 41, where her initiatives focused on diversity and early career professionals. For example, she initiated the formation of the division’s Early Career Psychology committee, and the institution of dues reductions, reduced conference fees, and research awards for early career scholars. In addition, she implemented a revival of the division’s committee devoted to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, by negotiating the first journal contract in the division’s history to make the division money and then having that money earmarked for the funding of travel awards and research grants to support underrepresented students.

Within APA, Kovera previously served as chair of the Committee on Division/APA Relations and two terms as a representative on APA Council. Kovera also helped form and served as the founding chair of APA’s Amicus Curiae Expert Panel, where she led APA’s efforts to translate psychological science for the courts, including briefs to support gender-affirming care, bans on conversion therapy, and women’s access to reproductive health (including mifepristone) as well as briefs that would educate the judiciary on factors that contribute to wrongful convictions. She currently serves as a member-at-Large on the APA Board of Directors, where she has served as a liaison to the Publication and Communications Board, BAPPI, the Committee for the Advancement of General Applied Psychology, and the Finance Committee.

1. What are the most pressing challenges and/or opportunities facing psychology graduate students today, and what are your proposed actions or advocacy priorities for APA to address these issues and to effectively support graduate students?

Psychology graduate students face a serious threat: shrinking federal investment in higher education. While APA successfully protected loan access for health service psychologists, nearly half of psychology graduate students now face devastating cuts to federal borrowing limits. As APA president, I will champion aggressive advocacy to restore and expand equitable access to federal loans, NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, and other critical funding opportunities. APA must lead the fight to ensure that financial barriers do not determine who can pursue graduate training in psychology. Our profession—and the communities we serve—depend on a diverse, well-supported next generation of psychologists.

2. At a time when public trust in research and science is under increasing scrutiny, APA has issued guidance aimed at protecting scientific integrity. How do you define scientific integrity? Describe how that definition would guide your leadership decisions when APA faces pressure from public or internal stakeholders around evidence‑informed policy and practice.

Scientific integrity means conducting and communicating research in ways that are rigorous, transparent, replicable, and evidence-based. As a scientist with nearly 30 years of National Science Foundation funding, I have built my career on these principles. I believe public trust in psychology depends on openness in our methods and honesty about our findings. That is why I successfully advocated for APA to adopt open science badges in its journals. As APA president, I would ensure that our policies and professional guidance remain grounded in the best available evidence, even when facing pressure from public or internal stakeholders.

3. What principles will guide your approach to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence in psychology? How would you balance innovation, ethical responsibility, workforce impact, and public benefit when determining APA’s role in promoting, regulating, or resisting AI‑based tools across psychology and the profession?

Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion should guide APA’s approach to artificial intelligence, just as it guides all of our work. AI presents both important opportunities and serious risks for psychology, and APA must meet this moment head on. AI can expand access to care, strengthen research, and improve education, but it can also reproduce harmful biases and inequities. APA must lead in identifying biased outcomes and developing evidence-based safeguards to prevent and remedy them. As APA president, I would support innovation that benefits the public while insisting on transparency, accountability, human oversight, and protection of the psychology workforce and our professional integrity.

4. APA’s strategic plan strives to “Prepare the field of psychology for current and future opportunities and challenges." What strategies and values guide your thinking about how APA can strengthen and support the current workforce and reduce barriers to those entering and sustaining a career in psychology? 

Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion must guide APA’s efforts to strengthen and sustain the psychology workforce. We must continue advocating for increased graduate student funding and reducing barriers that limit entry into the profession. At the same time, psychology is entering a period of rapid transformation driven by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. APA has a responsibility to prepare psychologists for these changes by supporting training, workforce development, and ethical innovation. That is why I have worked with APA staff to help support its new Center on Behavioral Science and AI, ensuring our profession is ready for the opportunities and challenges ahead.

5. As APA president, how would your values and practices assist APA in promoting and shaping culturally responsive and relevant research, practice, and advocacy across different populations both within the U.S. and globally?

Personally, I am called to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. These principles shape my approach to leadership, research, practice, and advocacy, and they encourage work that is relevant and responsive to people from all backgrounds. In my own research and practice, I have examined racial disparities in criminal justice involvement and their impact on individuals. As APA president, I would promote culturally responsive science and practice by encouraging humility, collaboration, and meaningful engagement with diverse populations within the U.S. and globally, while ensuring that psychology remains grounded in equity, inclusion, and evidence-based advocacy.

6. How would your leadership approach and strategies strengthen the public’s understanding of psychology and appreciation for the breadth of psychology expertise?

My leadership is grounded in a deep appreciation for the breadth of psychology and the many ways psychologists contribute to society. My own family reflects that diversity. I am a social-cognitive psychologist focused on criminal justice issues and higher education; my sister is a child clinical psychologist in private practice; and my husband, trained in experimental psychology, applies psychological science in the pharmaceutical industry. These experiences give me a personal understanding of psychology’s wide-ranging impact. As APA president, I would work to strengthen public understanding of psychology by highlighting the diverse roles psychologists play in research, practice, education, and industry.