She is a professor of psychology and Founder of the Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research at Victoria University of Wellington.
She held an Organization of American States post-doctoral fellowship at the University of West Indies.
[5] Ward's areas of contribution include cross-cultural psychology; acculturation and adaptation; intergroup perceptions and relations.
[6] She received a Te Rangi Hiroa medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2011 for her outstanding contributions to the advancement of psychology study of immigration, acculturation, intercultural relations and cultural diversity.
[7] In October 2015, Ward was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand for her "substantial contributions to the psychological study of immigration, acculturation and intercultural relations".