Associate Professor Rogelia Pe-Pua

Rogelia Pe-Pua is an Honorary Associate Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW. She was the Head of School from 2007-July 15, 2012. Prior to this, she was Head of the School of Social Science and Policy (2005-2006).

Rogelia's research interests include indigenous psychology, racism in Australia, multicultural attitudes in plural societies, migration policy issues, cross-cultural psychology, social and community issues, and youth issues. She has undertaken research on migration and return migration in Hawaii and the Philippines, labour migration in Spain and Italy, the character of Australian ethnic press, international students’ experiences, street-frequenting ethnic youth, refugee family settlement, Hong Kong immigrants in Australia, legal needs of NESBs, and an evaluation of a Juvenile Crime Prevention Strategy. She has also worked collaboratively with international researchers comparing ethnocultural youth identity and acculturation in 13 countries, and culture and trait links in four countries. She has completed two projects funded by the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship: (a) the needs of Australian Muslim families, and (b) social cohesion, social division and conflict in multicultural Australia.

Rogelia has a long history of specialisation in indigenous psychology which started at the University of the Philippines where she taught for 15 years before migrating to Australia. She has published widely in this area, including the first edited volume on Philippine indigenous psychology, book chapters and journal articles on indigenous methods. She has applied her passion for and expertise in indigenous and cross-cultural methods to the research she has conducted and to her teaching of research methods. An example of her leadership in this area is her recent involvement with the founding of the Asian Association of Indigenous and Cultural Psychology in which she was elected as Director of Research and Publication.

Research Areas

Indigenous psychology, racism, multicultural attitudes in plural societies, migration policy issues, cross-cultural psychology, social and community issues, youth issues, ethnicity and social identity, research methods

Ongoing and Recent Research Projects

Indigenous Psychology in the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan
A book project based on research conducted in the three countries. Indigenous psychology refers to psychology that is born out of the experience, thought and orientation of the indigenous people (Pe-Pua, R & Protacio-Marcelino, E, 2000, “Filipino Psychology: A legacy of Virgilio G. Enriquez”,  Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 3, 49-71). The book will trace the development of indigenous psychology and identify its contributions to theory, method and application in the three countries.

Social Cohesion in Australia
Joint project with Dr Justine Dandy of Edith Cowan University, funded by the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The aims of this research project are: to determine the indicators of social cohesion in Australia, identify factors that affect social cohesion, examine the effectiveness of various strategies in building community resilience and fostering social cohesion, and analyse the role of the media in Australians’ perspectives on multiculturalism. The research will include participants from culturally diverse communities including Australians who identify as Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander and also from less culturally distant groups such as British migrants. Three community case studies will be conducted: Blacktown (Sydney NSW), Stirling (Perth WA), and Murray Bridge (SA). Data collection methods includes focus groups with local residents, key informant interviews, web-based audit of government and non-government programs on social cohesion and media analysis.

Postgraduate Research Supervision

Areas of Supervision
Indigenous psychology, cross-cultural psychology, psychological acculturation, migration, racialisation, multiculturalism, international student experience, Asian psychology

Postgraduate Research Completions  

• Jae Won Kang, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2012, Towards a level playing field: A case study of young Koreans and sports in the Australian context
• Le Nhat Tran, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2011, Cultural transition of Vietnamese students in Australia (thesis examination completed, revision underway)
• Ji Sun Kim, MA Social Policy, 2010,  Korean immigrants’ experience with Australian welfare services
• Marilyn McHugh, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2008, Costs and consequences: Understanding the impact of fostering on carers
• Maria Elisa Hollero, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2007, Deconstructing the racialisation Experience of Asian Australians: Process, impact and response
• Ingrid Tufvesson, PhD Women & Gender Studies, 2005, They ought to be (t)here! but…: An intersectional study of racialised academic women’s marginalisation in Australia, South Africa, and Sweden
• Lyn Craig, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2005, The hidden cost of parenthood: The impact of children on adult time
• Punithavathi Arjunan, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2004, Pushing the boundaries: Adolescents and AIDS education in multicultural Malaysia
• Riffat Haque, PhD Women & Gender Studies, 2004, Purdah of the hearts and eyes: An examination of Purdah as an institution in Pakistan
• Suzy Casimiro, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2002, Settlement crossroads: Portuguese migrants in Australia
• Dave Coleman, PhD Social Science & Policy, 2001, The core and the periphery: The case of Foundation Studies programs in the organizational and educational transformations of higher education

Affiliation and Memberships

• Founding member and Director of Research and Publication, Asian Association of Indigenous and Cultural Psychology
• Member, Asian Association of Social Psychology
• Member, International Association of Cross-cultural Psychology
• Member, Philippine Studies Association of Australia
• Pambansang Samahan sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino [National Association for Filipino Psychology], Philippines: Founding Member; Secretary & Member of the Board of Directors (1985–86); President-Elect (1989–90); President (1991–92)
• Member, East West Center Alumni Association, Honolulu, Hawaii

Other Information

Rogelia has taken up Visiting Fellow/Researcher appointments at the following institutions:

• Center for Indigenous and Cultural Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, May-June 2013
• Maori Psychology and Research Unit, Waikato University, New Zealand, November 2012
• School of Psychology, Auckland University, New Zealand, November 2012
• Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, November 2012
• Department of Social Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, University of Tokyo, Japan, 2009
• Research Center for Psychological Science, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan, 2009
• Department of Psychology, University of the Philippines, Philippines, 2009
• Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology, Washington State University, USA, 2003
• Center for Philippine Studies, University of Hawaii, USA, 2002
• Department of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 2002
• Department of Geography, University of Waikato, New Zealand, 2002
• Centre for Asia-Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS), University of Wollongong, Australia, 1999
• Department of Psychology, Queens University, Ontario, Canada, 1999
• National Research and Development Center for Filipino-American Studies, San Francisco State University, California, USA, 1997
  International Labor Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997
• National Research and Development Center for Filipino-American Studies, San Francisco State University, California, USA, 1997
• Centre for Multicultural Studies, University of Wollongong, Australia, 1992-93
• Center for Philippine Studies, University of Hawaii, USA, 1987-88
• Culture Learning Institute, East West Centre, Honolulum Hawaii, USA, 1982-83