She received her doctorate from the University of California, Irvine in social ecology. Her research interests focus on gender and attitude measurement, and she teaches Social Psychology, Group Dynamics, Psychology of Women, and General Psychology. Betsy also runs the Honors program for the department, and she enjoys taking groups of students to present research in the Psi Chi program at the Midwestern Psychological Association meeting in Chicago every year. Her involvement with the UWL Psi Chi Chapter has included initiating a yearly 24-hour "swing-a-thon" to raise money for local charities involved with children's well-being.