People who share similar problems can come together to solve them instead of looking to others, said a psychology professor who was invited to speak at NIU next Tuesday.

Patricia Maguire, assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Western New Mexico, Silver City, will speak about her book, “Doing Participative Research—A Feminist Approach.”

Maguire will be at NIU April 30 for a seminar focusing on her book from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 405 of the Holmes Student Center.

NIU assistant education professor Derek Mulenga, who invited her, said he uses Maguire’s book as a text in his graduate class. Mulenga said it is the first documentation of how participative research can be applied in practice.

Mulenga said he describes three parts that are important for participative research: investigation, education and action.

Mulenga said Maguire’s book “takes the reader on a personal journey as she struggles through participative research.”

Maguire did research with battered women in a small town in New Mexico for certain parts of her book, Mulenga said.

“By using participative research, the battered women learned to take over what type of action needed to be done to solve their problem,” he said. “The book demonstrates how these women set up support groups for themselves.”

That night, Maguire will speak at a lecture titled “Breaking Another Male Monopoly: Feminist Research” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., again at Room 405 of the student center.

Mulenga said Maguire plans to argue at the lecture that most literature written today lacks a feminist perspective.

Mulenga came to NIU four months ago from Africa to be an assistant professor of education. He also teaches a graduate course at Malcolm X College in Chicago on participative research.