[3] Strickland has become an important figure for psychologists and feminists alike and continues to contribute to academia as a professor at the University of Massachusetts to this day.
[4] Strickland believes that growing up in the South had a major impact on her development in adolescence, and it could be considered a key inspiration for the research she has conducted during her career and her dedication to civil rights.
[5] At age 14, Strickland joined a softball team that played an important role in her discovery of her identity.
[3] Strickland's high school gym teacher helped her apply to Alabama College where she was accepted.
As an undergraduate at Alabama College Strickland studied and received a degree in physical education but was introduced and took interest in psychology by a professor of hers named Herbert Eber.
During this time, she remained closeted, but she took part in an important psychology study that compared the mental health of homosexual and heterosexuals at the college.