Following her doctoral studies in social psychology and a postdoctoral internship in educational and vocational psychology, Catherine Ratelle was hired as a professor in the Education Faculty at Laval University where she is a professor of Counseling and Educational Psychology.

She is a recognized motivational researcher and has received the New Researcher Award from the Canadian Psychological Association and was elected to the College of New Researchers of the Royal Society of Canada.

Her research, which is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, focuses on motivational and self processes as applied to educational and vocational development as well as the role parents play in their development.

Professor Ratelle is a regular member of the Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment (GRIP; Groupe de recherche sur l’inadaptation psychosocial de l’enfant), a multidisciplinary, inter-university (Laval, Université de Montréal, McGill, UQAM) excellence center officially recognized by Université Laval and the FRQ-SC. Its general aim is to understand the development of adjustment problems in children and youths, and identify the most effective means to prevent these problems from a bio-psycho-social perspective.