If you are considering a career in academia, APAGS can help you transition from graduate student to professor or independent researcher.
Our Committee for the Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Diversity (CARED) offers webisodes and podcasts of recorded webinars that showcase faculty of color as well as prominent psychologists, all with advice to give related to academic career development.
On May 8, 2014, two expert panelists reflected on their own professional pathway towards an academic career. They touched on the elements that make one competitive in securing interviews; how to navigate tenure track while advancing a commitment to creating a diverse community of scholars; how race, class, gender, and sexuality relate to professional activities in academic contexts; and how to have cultural dialogues, maintain cultural integrity, and find one’s professional fulfillment in academia.
Consuelo Cavalieri, PhD, was recently awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is an enrolled citizen of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and is involved in collaborations with the White Earth Nation, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, University of Minnesota, the state of Minnesota, and the University of California-San Francisco, to promote wellness among very young American Indian children and their families.
Mrinal Sinha, PhD, is an assistant professor in the division of social, behavioral, and global studies at California State University, Monterey Bay. He received his doctorate in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his BA in social and behavioral sciences from California State University, Monterey Bay.
On March 4, 2014, Rosemary Phelps, PhD, spoke with students about ways to well-position themselves, even when they are convinced that an academic career is not in their futures. She encourages students to see that an academic career can be quite a rewarding career path by sharing her own journey to finding her way in the academy (a Q&A session followed the formal presentation).
Phelps is a professor in the University of Georgia’s department of counseling and human development services. She was the department’s first African-American chair, serving from 2006 to 2012. She received APA’s award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training Award in 2010. She has interests in preparing future faculty, and researches topics related to experiences of students and faculty of color, counseling, supervision, gender issues, and college student development.
Amanda Sullivan, PhD
Amanda Sullivan, PhD, is assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development.
Sullivan’s work centers on understanding the social context of education for children and youth with disabilities, with an emphasis on inequities in access and outcomes among individuals from traditionally marginalized backgrounds and the preparation of educational professionals to implement evidence-based practices.
In this video, Sullivan discusses how she came to know she wanted to go into academia. She also shares some of the benefits and challenges of being an academic researcher, and speaks a little bit about her experiences with the tenure process.
Beth Boyd, PhD
Elizabeth “Beth” Boyd, PhD, is a specialist in crosscultural issues and interventions for families and children.
She is a professor in the University of South Dakota’s clinical psychology program, director of clinical services at the university’s psychological services center, a former president of APA Dividion 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues), and a member of the Disaster Mental Health Institute. Boyd is an enrolled member of the Seneca nation.
In this video, Boyd shares how her connections in the ethnic minority community sustained her through graduate school and her early career, and strategies to manage the unique pressures she experienced as an ethnic minority psychologist and professor.
Gordon Nagayama Hall, PhD
Gordon Nagayama Hall, PhD, is professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, and associate director of research in its Center on Diversity and Community. Hall’s research program focuses on psychopathology and treatment of immigrants and Asian Americans. In this video, Hall discusses his early influences in work with ethnic minorities. Using his personal and professional experiences, he gives his considerations on a number of topics including preparing for academia, applying for positions, and finding a supporting career environment.
Erlanger (Earl) Turner, PhD
Erlanger (Earl) Turner, PhD, is assistant professor of psychology at the University of Houston-Downtown. Turner has been involved in APA leadership since graduate school and is a current member of the APA Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (2015–17). A clinical psychologist by training, Turner works with children and adolescents and is interested in research concerning health disparities in ethnic minority populations. In this video, Turner talks about his journey to becoming an academic. He draws on his own graduate and early career experiences to advise graduate students interested in academia on pursuing faculty positions.