Dowling graduated from Haverford College in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and received a Master of Education from Lesley University in 1994 in early childhood education. She received her doctorate in Child Development from Tufts University in 2004. Dowling has extensive experience as both an educator and researcher. At Tufts University, she was a nominee for the Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching and was awarded the Graduate Student Award for Academic Excellence.
While working on her doctorate, Dowling was an adjunct professor at both Tufts University where she taught a course on cognitive development and Boston College where she taught a course on early childhood development and learning. She has been trained in the development and analysis of assessment tools and in research related to the integration between positive youth development and the promotion of civil society. Her dissertation was related to the topic of religious development and youth thriving.
Dowling has numerous publications in leading journals and handbooks of human development. She is a co-author of the ancillaries (Web guides, instructor manuals) for some of the leading textbooks related to child development used for undergraduates in the United States.