Editor Spotlight

Dr. Su Yeong Kim, editor of Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, will work on ensuring that the scholarly works published in the journal give a voice to marginalized and under-represented communities.

Tell us a bit about your background: What is your area of research? What is your most recent journal-editing experience?

My research examines the intersection of family and cultural contexts in the development of children of immigrants in the United States, with a focus on children of Chinese and Mexican origin. This work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

My studies examine how culturally relevant developmental and cognitive processes, as well as physiological and social stressors, influence parent-child relationships and adjustment transitions and outcomes in minority adolescents and young adults.

I also develop and test the measurement invariance of culturally relevant measures intended for use with ethnic minorities. For example, I developed measures of language brokering to capture the subjective experiences of adolescents translating for immigrant parents with limited English skills.

My experience with Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology began when I was an ad hoc reviewer; I subsequently joined the editorial board as a consulting editor, a position I held for 10 years, beginning with then-Editor Gordon Nagayma Hall and then continuing with Michael Zarate and Richard M. Lee.

I transitioned into my role as Associate Editor in 2016, and became Editor in 2019.

I have also served as an editorial board member for Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, and Asian American Journal of Psychology.

Briefly, what are your main priorities? For example, how will you grow readership, what type of scholarship would you like to see in the journal, and what kind of content are you hoping to attract?

My main priority is to publish rigorous, cutting-edge science on cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology.

I intend to grow the readership of the journal by expanding the breadth and depth of our pool of consulting editors to attract a more diverse readership and strengthen the journal's scholarship.

The field has traditionally been dominated by scholars in counseling and clinical psychology. However, the field of cultural and ethnic minority psychology also intersects with many other areas of psychology, such as developmental, social, health, organizational/industrial, and cognitive psychology.

My hope is to see more diverse fields represented in the journal, by scholars who are tackling issues of culture, diversity, race, and ethnicity.

Scholarship on race, ethnicity, and culture has often been conducted from a deficit perspective, by researchers who are not members of the groups being studied. I would like to see more authors who are members of the groups being studied, so the journal can publish research that gives a voice to those who are marginalized and under-represented in our society.

Why is this journal important for the field? What is its relevance to society/public health? What are the hot issues in your area right now?

The journal is critically important to advance the science of APA Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race).

The current social and political climate makes the science represented in the journal especially crucial. In addition, employers are increasingly looking for workers who can thrive in a diverse environment, as evidenced by requests for diversity statements for job applications and promotion files.

Studies on bias, particularly those taking an intersectional approach, are investigating the hot issues in the field right now, such as discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, immigrant status, disability, or sexual orientation.

As the field of psychology places a strong emphasis on open science, the journal will also prioritize publishing research by authors who have registered their studies as part of the Open Science Framework.

What challenges, if any, lie ahead for the field?

The success of the journal depends on reviews from active scholars in the field. Often, scholars have so many other commitments that they are unable to take on review requests.

I am hoping that new APA initiatives, such as the licensing of Publons, that recognize the service of scholars doing peer reviews will help increase the number of willing reviewers.

Established scholars in the field should also actively engage in teaching their students how to conduct high-quality peer reviews for publications, so that new scholars can engage with the peer review process seamlessly once they have received their doctorate degrees.

Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Are you making any changes?

Our first special issue is on immigration and refugees, specifically on collaborative and participatory research to promote engagement, empowerment, and resilience for immigrant and refugee youth, families, and communities. I welcome potential guest editors to contact me with ideas for future special issues.

As before, a manuscript submitted to the journal should receive a decision as to whether it will be sent out for peer review within two weeks of being assigned to me as Editor from the APA office.

If a manuscript appears to be competitive for potential publication, it will be assigned to one of eight Associate Editors, who will aim to make an editorial decision soon after the peer reviews are completed.

A change to the existing editorial process is that authors will be asked to identify the changes in their manuscript if they are re-submitting it.

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