Dr. Jessica Rourke

Dr. Jessica Rourke is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the UVic Department of Psychology. She received her Ph.D. in Social Personality Psychology from UVic in 2014, with her interests lying in the psychology of forgiveness and restorative justice. Dr. Rourke has been with the department since 2020 and typically teaches undergraduate introductory and social psychology courses.

As the faculty liaison for the Psychology Undergraduate Student Society of UVic and Psi Chi Honours Society, Dr. Rourke is a strong supporter of student engagement. In the classroom, Dr. Rourke strives to find ways to actively engage her students with the course material, using evidence-based teaching practices to foster feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in her students. 

1. What inspired you to become a psychologist and was there anything that drew you specifically to the field of social psychology?

I grew up in Quebec, where you graduate from high school in Grade 11 and then move onto CEGEP (which is similar to what we know as college). That was where I experienced my first psychology course, and I loved it! My friends were always telling me I was a good listener, so with my newfound love for psychology, I thought I’d go on to be a clinical psychologist. Life happened and clinical psychology just wasn’t something I was able to pursue after my undergrad, so I decided to continue on in the research area, specifically in social-personality psychology. I love people and understanding their motivations and reactions, so I think that’s what drew me to that particular area. I also was really enjoying the topic I’d been studying for my honours thesis (forgiveness-seeking), so I was happy to continue with that line of research inquiry.

2. What was the educational pathway you took to become a social psychologist?

I did a 4-year Bachelor of Arts, Honours, in Psychology, then I did my Master’s in Social-Personality Psychology, and finally my Ph.D. in Social Personality Psychology. Part-way through my Ph.D. (after completing my candidacy exams) I started teaching one or two courses as a sessional instructor. Once I graduated, I continued on with sessional teaching (at UVic and Camosun College), and then also took a job as executive director of Restorative Justice Victoria. Then I moved toward making teaching more my full-time career.

3. Was there anyone who was particularly influential to you during your studies?

I certainly have to give my Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Gifford, a big shout-out. There’s a lot of emotional ups and downs you go through doing your Ph.D., and without his unwavering support and encouragement, it would have been a much more difficult road.

Coming to do my Ph.D. though, I pretty much had an idea of what I would like to do, so I would say the person who had the most influence on me during my studies was Dr. Kathryn Belicki (who was my supervisor for my Honours and Master’s degrees). Her style of teaching influenced the way I approach my own teaching, and she’s the one who ignited my passion for studying forgiveness. And when some really unfortunate things occurred in my life and quashed my dreams of pursuing clinical psychology, she’s the one who would call me up at home and say, “Let’s figure this out. You can’t just stop on this path – you’re meant to do psychology.” She was a shining light in a really dark time and quite honestly, I owe my career to her.

4. What does a typical workday look like for Dr. Rourke?

I would say there’s nothing typical about it! That’s one of the things I struggle the most with in terms of this job – it’s hard to feel like you can stop, so it’s not uncommon for me to be working well past 11pm at night, and also on weekends. There’s a lot of preparation work that goes into teaching a class, and even if I’ve taught a particular class more than once, I like to go over it each time I teach it, to update my materials. A lot of my workday also involves answering emails, having individual meetings with students, and sitting on various committees (and of course, actually doing some teaching!). And then somewhere in there, you also need to find the time to conduct some research (and potentially supervise and support students conducting research) and attend conferences which might take you out of town, or even out of the country.

5. How do you maintain your work-life balance?

Well, as you can see in my previous answer…probably not as well as I could! This year, I have been making a concerted effort to make sure I’m taking some time to relax. One thing I do my best to avoid is allowing my work to interfere with showing up for my kids’ events. So when I’m not working on the weekends, you’ll most often find me cheering on the soccer pitch. I also try to exercise or do yoga every morning. In the past year, I’ve been talking myself into attending more social events – I joined a book club and there’s a decently-sized group of us that try to go out for dinners every once in a while, or do fun things like take a rowing lesson together. It’s been really nice to make some space for stuff like that. I definitely think I’m still heavily tipped toward the “work” side of things, and finding more balance is something I’ll continue to actively work on.

6. What sparked your interest in becoming a teaching professor and supporting psychology student societies such as PUGS and Psi Chi?

My mom sparked my interest in becoming a teacher. When I was younger, I never imagined it would be in a university setting, but she was a really well-liked high school teacher and we would often run into former students of hers who would come up to her and be so happy to see her and thank her for the difference she’d made in their lives, and I always thought I’d like to make a difference like that in people’s lives. Then I moved into my passion for clinical psychology, but as soon as I shifted away from that, the idea of teaching came back into play. When I taught my first class as a sessional instructor, to make a bit of money as I completed my Ph.D., I finally felt like I’d found my “home”. In terms of supporting our student clubs – in my third year of my undergraduate degree, I became the vice-president of our psychological society, and then the following year, was the president. No one had really done much with the club for several years, so it was about building it back up and re-igniting that sense of community amongst our psychology students. I saw how much good that did for everyone, so I’m so happy to be able to be part of that here at UVic. Your academics is only one facet, of many, that is important in your university experience. Feeling like you belong, finding support, having opportunities to give back to your community, and making some life-long friends are, in my opinion, just as important, and I believe our clubs give students those opportunities.

7. Do you incorporate your knowledge of psychology into your teaching practices? If so, in what ways?

Absolutely. As a teaching professor, most of my research now focuses on the scholarship of teaching. If I’m implementing a strategy into my classroom, I want it to be evidence-based – I want to know I’m creating a classroom environment that is going to help my students succeed. A lot of the things I implement are ways in which I can give students autonomy (a sense of having a choice in how they navigate the course – e.g., offering them choices in their assignments), a sense of competence (feeling like they have the capability to do well in my course – e.g., offering many different ways for them to earn grades), and a sense of relatedness (feeling connected to their classmates – e.g., allowing lots of small class discussions). Those things are all based on Self-Determination Theory, which is a leading theory of motivation in psychology.

8. What changes do you predict will come to the field of social psychology in the future?

That is a difficult question to answer! One thing for sure, and we’re slowly starting to see it, is a recognition we’ve done a disservice to the field by not having enough diversity in our participants, and not enough diversity in the researchers whose work gets highlighted in journals and textbooks. I’m excited that we’re also beginning to see a shift in the types of research methodologies that are deemed “acceptable”. For instance, we’ve devalued more community-based research approaches for a long time and as a result, we’ve lost out on a lot of really great knowledge/contributions. It’s time for us to rectify that. I also imagine we’re going to be seeing studies exploring the long-term and perhaps unexpected impacts of the pandemic, and some studies on the impacts of people relying more and more on AI to help them complete their work.

9. Do you have any advice for students interested in pursuing a similar career path to yourself?

Network! Get to know your professors and fellow students. Those professors are the ones you’re going to need to approach for a reference letter if you want to go to graduate school. Take more than one class with a professor you like. Participate in your classes and drop in on office hours so your professors can get to know you. If you can, apply for a job in a research lab. Also, attend the psychology club events and if you can, get involved on their boards! This gives you fabulous experiences and looks great on your CV. 

Five Fun Facts about Dr. Rourke:

1. Are you reading or watching anything interesting at the moment?

After spending so much time reading textbooks and journal articles, I try to find more “fun”/non-academic books to read. I’ve recently finished the Ann Cleeves Vera Stanhope mystery series – I really liked those because it’s one of the few instances where I wasn’t able to solve the mysteries before the end of the books! Since I finished that series, I’ve now moved on and have just finished the first book in Sarah J. Maas’ “Court of…” series. So, I just finished “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and am very much looking forward to getting my hands on the second book! That being said, I also want to keep myself accountable and improve as a human being and as an instructor. I’ve just purchased the book “Decolonial Psychology: Toward Anticolonial Theories, Research, Training, and Practice” and am looking forward to taking my time to reflect on the chapters and discussing them with my colleagues.

2. What are your hobbies?

I love doing yoga; If I can find the time, I love reading; I enjoy playing piano – I took lessons for many, many years, and it’s always a great way to ground myself.

3. Do you have a pet?

I do – a 2-year-old Labradoodle named Teddy. He has such a calming and also silly energy and has brought a huge amount of joy to our household. 

4. Describe your dream vacation.

Beach + sunshine + turquoise water + a really good book. Also, some really good food.

5. What is your favourite snack food?

I definitely enjoy chips and dip. I also won’t say no to a good piece of chocolate! When I’m feeling stressed, I gravitate toward Starbucks for a chai latte…just the smell of it and that first warm sip, and I can immediately feel my body start to relax. I realize those are all pretty junky! In the summer, I would say my favourite snacks are fresh fruits like cherries, raspberries, blackberries, and peaches.