Rachel Gartner

Dr. Rachel E. Gartner is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Gartner’s prevention-focused scholarship aims to address gaps in the literature regarding how we conceptualize and measure sexual violence, microaggressions (i.e., subtle identity-based stressors), and other forms of victimization for marginalized groups such as women, sexual and gender minority individuals, people of color, and those with intersecting, marginalized identities. Dr. Gartner’s current study, It Adds Up, examines the role of gender microaggressions on a continuum of college campus sexual violence for undergraduate women. Her research program aims to inform contextually and developmentally targeted approaches to prevention that address the complexity of intersecting marginalized identities. 

Dr. Gartner’s research is informed by her practice experience as a sexual violence prevention educator, mental health clinician, and advocate in school, university, and hospital settings. She received both her BA in Psychology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and her MSW concentrating in Mental Health from Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Gartner completed her PhD in Social Welfare with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality at the University of California, Berkeley.

Research Interests

• Prevention-focused scholarship addresses gaps in conceptualization and measurement of sexual violence
• Microaggressions (identity-based stressors)
• Other forms of victimization for marginalized groups (women, gender minority individuals, POC and those with intersecting, marginalized identities)