Women Faculty Leadership Institute

The Women Faculty Leadership Institute (WFLI) is an annual program organized by the Office to Advance Women, Equity & Diversity (AWED), geared toward women faculty and designed to promote leadership and strategic career planning.

WFLI has been successfully offering leadership training, faculty development, and networking opportunities to women faculty since 2011. The Institute is focused on skills training, networking, and identifying strategies to improve FIU’s institutional climates.

WFLI Archive

  • Scholar(ly) Devaluation as a Barrier to Faculty Diversity | FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2021

    Thursday, May 6, 2021 11:00am-1:00pm, Zoom

    Keynote Address: NiCole Buchanan, professor, psychology, Michigan State University, and Isis Settles, Professor, psychology and Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan

    Racial minority faculty (i.e., Black, Hispanic, and American Indian) remain underrepresented within academia, with each of these groups holding fewer than 4% of full-time faculty positions according to 2013 data (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). Further, their representation declines as rank increases. Scholarly devaluation  may act as a barrier to the number, retention, and advancement of underrepresented racial minority (URM) faculty in the academy, as it leads to their research, teaching, and scholarly identity being diminished, seen as illegitimate and lacking merit. Drawing from our program of research, we detail how this scholarly devaluation operates formally and informally, the consequences of such exclusion, and strategies for universities seeking to enhance diversity and inclusion on their campus. 

    Co-sponsored by FIU's NSF ADVANCE Grant.

    2021 WFLI Speaker Bios

    Missed the webinar? View it here.

  • Escape the Cape | FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2020

    Thursday, May 7, 11:00am-1:00pm, Zoom

    Keynote Address: Escape the Cape, Carolyn West, Ph.D., an award-winning author, filmmaker, keynote speaker, and Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington.

    Dr. West is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and keynote speaker. She will address the issue of academic women trying to “do it all” - or in other words, be superheroes. But what toll does this take? Dr. West will explore strategies to “Escape the Cape” of invincibility, practice self-care, and reconnect with authenticity.

    Co-sponsored by the ACE Women's Network of Florida, FIU Chapter, the Center for Leadership, and FIU's NSF ADVANCE Grant.

    Missed the webinar? View it here.

  • #MeToo in Academe: From Moments to a Movement | FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2019

    Friday, May 3, 8:30am-2:00pm, AHC5, Room 201-203, MMC 

    Keynote Address: Sexual Harassment: Changing the System, Joan Schmelz, Ph.D., Director, NASA Postdoctoral Program, Universities Space Research Association (USRA); Associate Director for Science and Public Outreach for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy at NASA Ames Research Center

    Dr. Joan Schmelz was honored in 2015 as one of Nature’s top ten people who made a difference in science for her work fighting sexual harassment. She gives talks and writes articles on topics such as unconscious bias, stereotype threat, and the gender gap. She is the former deputy director of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and a former program officer for the National Science Foundation's Division of Astronomical Sciences. She is a current Vice President of the American Astronomical Society and a former chair of the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy. 

    Co-sponsored by the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the Center for Leadership, the College of Medicine Office of Women in Medicine and Science, and FIU's NSF ADVANCE Grant.

    2019 WFLI Summary

    2019 Workshop Program

    2019 Workshop Materials

    Campus Resources

    View  images from the event here.

  • FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2018

    Friday, May 4, 8:30am-2:00pm, College of Business Complex Special Events Center (Room 235)

    Keynote Address: Women in Global Science: Advancing Academic Careers through International Collaboration, Kathrin Zippel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Northeastern University

    Zippel, author of Global Women in Science (2017), will highlight how gender relations are reconfigured in global academia. For U.S. women in particular, international collaboration offers opportunities to step outside of exclusionary networks at home. International collaboration is not the panacea to gendered inequalities in academia, but it can be key to ending the steady attrition of women in STEM fields and developing a more inclusive academic world for women in all fields.

    Co-sponsored by the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the College of Business, the College of Medicine Office of Women in Medicine and Science, the Center for Leadership; and FIU's NSF ADVANCE Grant.

    2018 Workshop Program

    View images from the event here.

  • FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2017

    Friday, May 5, 8:30am-2:30pm, College of Business Complex Special Events Center (Room 235)

    Keynote Address: Effective Communication Tips and Techniques, Cynthia Simpson, Association for Women in Science

     Ineffective communication skills can hamper individuals as they navigate through their professional careers while trying to reach their goals and objectives. During this workshop, tips and techniques will be shared that can be used by the participant to ensure continued success in their personal and professional life. Interactive exercises will assist attendees in better understanding and enhancing their style of communication. Participants will gain an understanding of the factors that inhibit effective communication, become familiar with verbal and nonverbal communication techniques, and assess how to improve one’s communications style.   

    Co-sponsored by the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the School of Integrated Science and Humanity, the College of Medicine Office of Women in Medicine and Science, the Center for Leadership; and FIU's NSF ADVANCE Grant.

    2017 Workshop Program

    View images from the event here.

  • FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2016

    Thursday, May 5, 9:30am-3:00pm, College of Business Complex Special Events Center (Room 235)

    Keynote Address: Strategies to Promote and Sustain Equity: Examples from Oregon State University, Rebecca Warner, Professor of Public Policy, Oregon State University 

    Recognition that recruiting excellent faculty necessitates both competitive salaries as well as salary equity has led many universities to change the way they hire. More challenging to address are the historical patterns of salary inequities that have been exacerbated by compression and can negatively impact faculty morale, productivity and retention. In 2012, Oregon State University (OSU) implemented a $5M salary compression program as one part of a more comprehensive approach to faculty success. Based on her six years leading faculty promotion and compensation programs at OSU, Becky will review this work and its emphasis on shared governance.

    Co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Academic Affairs, the College of Arts, Sciences, & Education, the School of Integrated Science and Humanity, the Center for Leadership, and the Mine Üçer Women in Science Lecture Series.

    2016 Workshop Program

  • FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2015

    Thursday, May 7, 10:00am-3:00pm, Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum

    Keynote Address: Gender and Teaching Evaluations, Susan Basow, Lafayette College

    Given the important role student evaluations of teaching play in many professors’ career trajectory, it is important to understand potential biasing factors. In this talk, Dr. Basow will review the research on the many subtle and indirect ways in which gender factors may affect student ratings. She will point out particular risk factors that may make some professors more vulnerable to biased evaluations than others and will conclude with recommendations for the use of such evaluations.

    Co-sponsored by the Center for Leadership, the School of Integrated Science and Humanity, College of Arts & Sciences, the Mine Ucer Women in Science Lecture Series, and FIU’s NSF PAID-ADVANCE Grant.

    2015 Workshop Program

    View images from the event here

  • FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2014

    Thursday, May 7, 9:30am-3:00pm, College of Business Complex Special Events Center (Room 235)

    Keynote Address: A Guide to Navigating the Gendered Leadership Labyrinth in Academia, Stephanie Goodwin, Wright State University

    Despite 50+ years of increased participation in the labor force, women remain underrepresented in positions of leadership and power across industrial, political and educational institutions, including institutions of higher education. Why are there still so few women at the top? Social psychological research points to persistent—often unintentional—gender biases that pose barriers for women when it comes to achieving and succeeding in leadership roles. This workshop offers participants a primer of gender biases in the workplace, linking these biases to four common barriers for women. Participants will learn and discuss individual and institutional strategies for navigating the gendered leadership labyrinth to foster personal success and gender equity in leadership roles across the academy.

    Co-sponsored by the Center for Leadership, the School of Integrated Science and Humanity, College of Arts & Sciences, the Mine Ucer Women in Science Lecture Series, and and FIU’s NSF PAID-ADVANCE Grant.

    2014 Workshop Program

  • FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2013

    Thursday, May 2, 12:00-4:00pm, College of Business Complex Special Events Center (Room 235)

    Keynote Address: Emotional Labor, Meredith Newman, Vice Provost, Faculty and Global Affairs, FIU

    The presentation will address the concept of emotional labor, what it is, and its centrality to the service aspects of much of our work, how it is performed on the job (emotive skills) and the coping strategies to avoiding burnout. Emotional labor is the application of emotional intelligence at work. It involves emotional regulation - expression or suppression. It is defined as the management of one’s emotions and the attempt to manage the emotions of others, all for the purposes of doing one’s job effectively. But there are gender differences in how emotions are expressed, how nonverbal communication is received, and how the performance of emotional labor affects women as compared to men.

    Co-sponsored by the Center for Leadership, the School of Integrated Science and Humanity, College of Arts & Sciences, the Mine Ucer Women in Science Lecture Series, and and FIU’s NSF PAID-ADVANCE Grant.

    2013 Workshop Program

  • FIU Women Faculty Leadership Institute 2012

    Thursday, May 3, 12:00-3:00pm, College of Business Complex Special Events Center (Room 235)

    Assertive Communication for Women Faculty

    The first part of the workshop will focus on negotiation, a critical and regular part of everyday life in professional and personal spheres. An interactive session will examine how or when to negotiate some common situations such as establishing authorship credit, working with colleagues and graduate students, and responding to requests concerning teaching or service. The second part of the workshop will emphasize skills such as proactively responding to criticism, giving and receiving praise, and creating and maintaining a positive image of yourself in the workplace.   

    Co-sponsored by the School of Integrated Science and Humanity and FIU's NSF ADVANCE Grant.  

    2012 Workshop Program

    View images from the event here.