By Ashlyn Beck | Staff Writer
In recognition of Women’s History Month, women faculty were celebrated for their variety of talents Tuesday afternoon at the Reception Celebrating the Teaching and Research of Baylor Women Faculty.
Dr. Sara Dolan, associate dean for professional development in the graduate school, was one of the featured speakers. Dolan said the reception gave much-needed recognition to female teachers and researchers on campus.
“Celebrating all the women on campus who do great work gives us recognition among our peers and also demonstrates to each other that we’re not alone,” Dolan said. “We’re all in this together.”
Dolan said Women in the Academy, which is a mentorship program between women faculty and doctoral students at Baylor, is intricately connected with honoring female teachers and researchers.
“[It’s important] to see role models who look just like you and who have similar stories to you,” Dolan said.
Dolan said recognizing women who are successful in their fields is important to show others what they can achieve someday. Having successful women, like President Linda Livingstone and Provost Nancy Brickhouse, speak at the reception is inspiring for women who hope to be in positions of leadership in the future.
“These are women who are in incredible leadership positions on campus, and to see them and to hear and get inspiration from them, I think is important for all of us,” Dolan said.
Additionally, Dolan said honoring women is important because historically, they haven’t always been honored.
“When you’re not in the majority group, you can feel lonely and feel isolated and feel like you’re doing all sorts of stuff that no one else is doing,” Dolan said.
In addition to Dolan, Livingstone and Brickhouse, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs DeAnna Toten Beard also spoke at the event.
Toten Beard said the reception primarily focused on mentorship programs at Baylor. While Dolan talked about mentorship opportunities between faculty and doctoral students, Toten Beard shared mentorship opportunities between faculty members.
“I talked about the value of all of those relationships in the lives of female faculty and how celebrating women researchers and teachers is also celebrating women supporting women in the academy,” Toten Beard said.
Both Dolan and Toten Beard said having mentors and mentoring others is essential to supporting women’s success in academics.
“The talk [was] really about the future of mentoring at Baylor [and] the importance of having faculty who are well-trained to do high-quality mentoring, because that produces better students and produces better Baylor Bears to go out into other positions across the country,” Dolan said.
For female faculty or doctoral students, Toten Beard said talking to mentors can help them understand where they are and how they should continue in their journey.
“In departments where, historically, women are outnumbered, having other women tell you their story, show you the pathway they took — even a woman who’s only a few years ahead of you in the career — helps normalize your experience and show you a way forward,” Toten Beard said.
The reception was a way to acknowledge those who often don’t get recognition but also to look back at extraordinary women in Baylor’s history, Toten Beard said.
“Baylor is marked by great female researchers and teachers throughout its history, so Women’s History Month is a great time to talk about what we’re doing now and to celebrate the fact that there’s more of us,” Toten Beard said.
