Isla Varpula

Isik Ulubas-Varpula is a PhD candidate in Developmental Psychology who studies bullying, discrimination and school belonging among youth. She is interested in the differences on how immigrant and native youth experience aggression and discrimination, and how their sense of belonging is shaped through these experiences. Her expertise includes direct and indirect forms of aggression, peer/ teacher discrimination, as well as sexual harassment. Her interests also cover the effect of gender and cultural background over aggression. She uses self-assessment tools to measure different forms of aggression and discrimination. She is familiar with multivariate analysis of (co)variance, multi-group structural equation modelling, and mediation analysis.

She aims to expand her research into protective role of active coping mechanisms towards negative outcomes of bullying and discrimination minority and native adolescents’ mental well-being. In this regard, Ulubas-Varpula intends to use longitudinal self-assessment measures from minority and native youth.

She has been enjoying teaching ‘Peace Education’ and Contemporary Peace and Conflict Studies II’ to international masters and undergraduate students during her PhD.

Ulubas-Varpula received her B. Ed. in Primary School Mathematics Teaching from Anadolu University, Turkey and Master's in Peace Mediation and Conflict Research from Åbo Akademi University, Finland. 

For more information, please see her academic portfolio.