In late June, the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women piloted its Future Faculty Fellows program with four cohort members. This program brought doctoral students (who had completed all but their dissertations), postdocs, and first-year, women faculty together to meet current faculty at Cleveland-based universities, engage in professional development workshops to prepare for the faculty career search, and tour Cleveland-area neighborhoods. The goal of the program is to not only connect nationwide women in STEM and Women of Color in various academic disciplines to universities in Northeast Ohio, but also attract them to live and work in the area, all while providing ongoing professional development.
The cohort included two Case Western Reserve University postdoctoral scholars: Hala Osman and Thilini Abeywansh.
Members of the cohort engaged with faculty and deans from Case Western Reserve, Kent State University, Lakeland Community College, and Ursuline College. While in the program, they also developed and refined their skills in syllabus-writing, grant application and creating job documents. They also learned about what faculty life is like at a variety of institutions.
“In a world where academic professional development opportunities for women, Black women, women of Color, and/or women in STEM are slim to none, the Future Faculty Fellows program is invaluable to growing community and sustainability in our respective disciplines,” Hannah R. Stohry, assistant professor at the Bridgewater State University School of Social Work.