Our
Mission

Each of us has a unique story.

We all have a common mission.

Everyone is welcome.

WiCS+ is seeking to:

Celebrate the contributions of women to the field of cognitive science.
Provide a space for discussions and training surrounding issues of gender equity within the field for all members of our community.
Support the visibility of all who identify as women by ensuring that they are included on editorial boards, influential committees, & visible positions in professional organizations.
Create an environment that encourages a new generation of women to join the field of cognitive science.
Assist with professional development in the field for a wide array of careers.
Build a community of scholars to provide networking opportunities and outreach around the globe.

WiCS History

Women in Cognitive Science (WICS) was founded in 2001 by Judith Kroll (Penn State), Randi Martin (Rice University), and Suparna Rajaram (Stony Brook) through support by a National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Leadership Award, which continued until 2007. With the growth of WiCS over its first decade, active members of the WiCS community stepped into leadership roles, including: Laurie Feldman (Albany), Janet van Hell (Radboud U. Nijmegen, the Netherlands & Penn State), and Natasha Tokowicz (University of Pittsburgh). In 2020, the current leadership team was formed to move WiCS into its third decade.

Ongoing support for WiCS has come from many sources. NSF continues to be a key supporter of WICS with seven conference awards funded to support WiCS through the Perception, Action, and Cognition program at NSF.

WiCS has affiliated with the Psychonomic Society (PS), where we hold our annual workshop in conjunction with the PS annual meeting. The Science Directorate of the American Psychological Association (APA) has provided support for a WICS social hour following the annual workshop. PS and APA Division 3 have partnered with WiCS to support Junior Scientist Networking and Travel awards.

Throughout its history, WiCS has benefited from partnering with professional organizations to provide workshops and networking opportunities, including: PS, Cognitive Science Society, Association for Psychological Science, and Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition.

WiCS supported the development of and continues to partner with WiCS-Canada, founded in 2016, and WiCS-Europe, founded in 2017.

In 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, WiCS began building a robust program of online activities from writing support groups, virtual coffee hours, online workshops, and more.

Meet the
Leadership Team