Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research: Nancy E. Betz

This award is given to a psychologist whose research has led to important discoveries or developments in the field of applied psychology. To be eligible, this research should have led to innovative applications in an area of psychological practice, including but not limited to assessment, consultation, instruction, or intervention (either direct or indirect). Research involving the original development of procedures, methodologies, or technical skills that significantly improve the application of psychological knowledge and provide direct and immediate solutions to practical problem areas will be considered, as will research that has informed psychologists on how better to observe, define, predict, or control behavior. Original integration of existing theories or knowledge is also eligible for consideration. In previous years, this award was called the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge. The name was changed in 2003 to better describe this award. The 2020 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2019 Board of Professional Affairs (BPA). For her contributions to the psychology of women, vocational psychology, and career development and to psychological measurement, including the measurement of personality and the healthy personality. In particular, for her contributions to "career self-efficacy theory" applying (with collaborator Gail Hackett) Bandura's self-efficacy theory to the study of vocational psychology and career development. Her work demonstrated that self-efficacy theory is very amenable to interventions and, thus, has been applied to promote women's interests in nontraditional fields. Finally, for her contributions in studying factors related to women's decisions about career choices and not just whether or not women worked outside the home. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).