Women’s Research On Women Symposium Highlighted Visionary Women

In honor of Women’s History Month, Texas A&M faculty, staff and students attended the 6^th annual Women’s Research on Women Symposium at Texas A&M University on March 26.

The event highlights scholars who conduct research on women, girls, and gender issues. This year, attendees experienced three keynote speakers and a research gallery tour.

“The Women’s Research on Women Symposium, in its sixth successful year, is an annual gathering of academics across Texas A&M University to celebrate and round out Women’s History Month,” said Dr. Beverly Irby, founding organizer of the symposium.

The College of Education and Human Development’s Dean Joyce Alexander welcomed attendees. She highlighted the importance of women issues, echoing this year’s theme, “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace and Nonviolence”. She praised the diversity of research featured at this year’s symposium, from women’s healthcare access to cultural education.

Dean Alexander’s remarks were followed by three keynotes. First, Dr. Shannon Deer from Mays Business School spoke about her research, ‘Women’s Transition from the Sex Trade to Legal Work’, highlighting their struggles regarding mindset, lifestyle and health risk management when exiting the trade and entering the legal workforce.

Former public defense attorney, Dr. Amber Baylor, from the Texas A&M School of Law presented her research ‘Centering Women in Prisoners’ Rights Litigation’. She said the women-centered frame in her research was inspired by women’s important, yet little-known role in challenging and changing prison policies on prisoners’ rights dating back to the 1970s in New York.

The final keynote by Dr. Diana Z. O’Brien from the Department of Political Science was titled ‘Citizens’ Responses to Women’s Political Representation’. Her research showed across the political spectrum that when women are involved in the decision-making process the decisions are perceived as more balanced.

Irby and the President of the Women’s Faculty Network, Dr. Gabriela Thornton, introduced attendees to the gallery tour of research. During her remarks, Thornton noted that the symposium included one of the most diverse set of presenters among all meetings she has attended at TAMU.

The research gallery tour featured 17 presentations from scholars around the university, including 10 colleges, and a faculty member at the University of California San Diego.

Participant affiliations include:

• Texas A&M University Mays Business School
• Texas A&M University School of Law
• The Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts
• The Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service
• Texas A&M University Libraries
• The Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development in the College of Education and Human Development
• The Teaching and Learning Commons at the University of California San Diego
• The Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture in the College of Education and Human Development
• Texas A&M University School of Public Health
• The Department of Nutrition and Food Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• The Department of Health and Kinesiology in the College of Education and Human Development
• The Department of Education Psychology in the College of Education and Human Development
• The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Irma Lerma Rangel College of School of Pharmacy
• The Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering
• The Department of Hispanic Studies in the College of Liberal Arts
• The Education Leadership Research Center in the College of Education and Human Development
• The Department of Health Policy and Management in the School of Public Health

The event was sponsored by the Educational Leadership Research Center, the Office of Organization Development and Diversity Initiatives, the College of Education and Human Development, as well as the Women’s Faculty Network and Women’s and Gender Studies.

Graduate Research Assistant for Academic Affairs in CEHD, Elizabeth Pugliese, coordinated the event.

For more information visit elrc.tamu.edu.

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Written by Matthew J. Etchells and Dadao Hou