Dr. Sarah Abu-Kaf, a faculty member and lecturer in cross-cultural psychology in BGU's Conflict Management and Resolution Program and the first clinical psychologist in Bedouin society has been selected as one of the 50 most influential women of 2018 (Forbes Power Women) by the Forbes Israel magazine.
The official announcement will take place this evening, Thursday July 12, 2018 at the Power Women 2018 event in Tel Aviv, where the special edition of the magazine will be launched in the presence of Israel's Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and other women featured on the list.
"The story of Abu-Kaf (42) is a success story. She completed her three degrees at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and did postdoctoral training at Harvard University. She researches a wide range of topics – mental health issues in different cultural groups, adjustment to academic life by Arab and Bedouin students and the coping methods of men and women from the Ethiopian community going through divorce," according to the article about her.
"A discussion with Dr. Sarah Abu-Kaf took place in her air-conditioned office at Ben-Gurion University a few days after the beginning of Ramadan and in the midst of a spring heat wave in May. While her Jewish colleagues return at the end of the workday to bright and air-conditioned homes, Abu-Kaf returns home to the village of Um Batin, where there is no electricity or running water. 'In winter I bring laptops with me to the University to charge them', she says, 'because I know that at home I can't'."
Combining theory, research and experience, Abu-Kaf tries to understand mental health issues better and to develop culturally appropriate intervention programs. Abu-Kaf sits on a number of public committees. She was appointed to the public committee that oversees the expansion of the “Health Services Basket" in 2015, is currently a member of the steering committee of the Association for Intercultural Psychological Services, and with plays a significant role in creating programs in clinical psychology. She developed a model for mental health services to prevent and treat emotional distress among disadvantaged populations, based on her research in Bedouin society in the Negev. She also initiated and developed intervention programs to help Bedouin students deal with academic pressures and to reduce their drop-out rates from higher education.
Abu-Kaf has won a number of prestigious awards and scholarships: a Fulbright scholarship (2011), "Maof" post-doctoral scholarship for outstanding Arab lecturers (2013), and was included in the list of the 40 most promising young researchers in "The Marker" newspaper. In 2014, the US Embassy named her to the Women in Science Hall of Fame, and in 2016 Abu-Kaf was the winner of the Council for Higher Education Award in the young researcher category.
