Dr. Kathleen Barker, Professor of Psychology, is a social psychologist who conducts multidisciplinary research in the areas of nonstandard work, higher education and social justice, as well as on methodological issues. She co-edited a collection published by ILR/Cornell University Press, "Contingent Work: American Employment Relations in Transition," which was selected as its years noteworthy book in industrial relations and labor economics by Princeton University's Firestone Library.

Dr. Barker's research has included the study of the professoriate at The City University of New York, the largest urban university in the United States. She chaired the Committee on the Faculty Experience Survey of the University Faculty Senate (UFS). The FES:09 report documents the experience, attitudes and opinions of full- and part-time faculty and spans a technical report and 24 appendices. Dr. Barker has examined the impact factor scores (IFS), specifically the reliability of IFS metrics and their potential for abuse in tenure and promotion decisions in higher education. In addition, she has co-authored an extensive series of papers on self-efficacy as a construct in evaluating student outcomes.

Sample publications include a chapter in "The Portable Mentor" (Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2004) on employment in psychology; a chapter on part-time work in a collection on the workplace, Women Employees and Human Resource Management (2000); and a reprinted article in a text on methodology, Extreme Methods: Innovative Approaches in Social Science Research . She has published sole and co-authored articles in Sex Roles, Psychological Reports, Social Work and Education, and Social Work and Health Care, as well as an instructor’s manual on the psychology of women. A special issue of Social Work and Health Care examined the role of bibliometrics in social work research which was re-published as a separate monograph.

Prof. Barker was named to the American Psychological Association's 2005 and 2006 panels on the Work Force in Psychology. She assisted panel members in deciding the scope and methodology of the workforce analysis and in writing the final report with recommendations to APA's Board of Directors. One of the results was the establishment of the APA Center for Workforce Analysis.

Dr. Barker also served as a network member for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She has made numerous presentations at local, regional and national conferences. She has served in instructional and administrative capacities at Bard College, Columbia University, New York University, Pace University, and Medgar Evers College/CUNY.

Prof. Barker brought her labor expertise to her professional employment and provided leadership to the University as she participated in university-wide settings. She served for six 3-year terms as a Senator for the University Faculty Senate (UFS). In 2012 through 2016, she was elected to the UFS Executive Committee as an At-Large Member and was the UFS faculty representative to the Enrollment Management Council and served for four years on CUNY Board of Trustees' Committee on Faculty, Staff and Administration. In May 2016, she was elected Vice Chair of the UFS and served on its Executive Committee and on the Board of Trustees' Committee on Planning and Facilities, service which concluded in May, 2020.

Dr. Barker was elected campus Faculty Governance Leader. During her two years as Chairperson, the Medgar Evers Faculty Senate was revitalized in a number of areas, from having its first web page at the College to programming speakers on a variety of topics, such as shared governance, budget, parliamentary procedures, and bullying. Dr. Barker stepped down from this position in May of 2022 but her service to the College and University continues via her other roles. Past service includes election as Sr. College Representative for six years on the Executive Council of the Professional Staff Congress, the largest faculty and staff union in the U.S., and as Grievance Counselor for four years. Dr. Barker has accepted an invitation to chair the UFS Academic Affairs Advisory Committee for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Dr. Barker was awarded her doctorate in Social-Personality Psychology in 1990 from The Graduate Center/The City University of New York. She resides in Manhattan with her spouse, Professor Gary Holden.