Development of UCEA and the Field with Martha McCarthy
23m | Apr 23, 2024This episode of In the Lead with UCEA kicks off Season 2 and the new UCEA Issues series. UCEA Executive Director Dr. Mónica Byrne-Jimenez talks with Dr. Martha McCarthy, Presidential Professor Emeritus at Loyola Marymount University and Chancellor's Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, about her insights on the evolution of educational leadership and UCEA's role in shaping it. Martha discusses pivotal moments in leadership, the impact of funding on research and practice, and the importance of UCEA conventions in fostering community and advancing the field. The conversation also touches on equity and social justice, the changing demographics of educational leadership faculty, and the personal impact of UCEA on Martha's career. Listen in!
In the Lead with UCEA is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
Broadening UCEA’s reach through conventions
06:20: Annual conventions are very important, as far as the development of our field. Really, Mónica, prior to the '80s, UCEA’s reach was not that broad. It didn't impact those that weren't at UCEA programs. And even those programs, the PSR was involved, but maybe some of the faculty didn't know much about what UCEA was doing.
And it's interesting now, I know Gerardo said, the lore is… Jay Scribner and I were sitting in a room, and I said, “Hey, let's start UCEA conferences.” I don't have any recollection of that particular conversation. Well, I do remember talking with Pat Forsythe and the executive committee and saying, “Let's think about how we can broaden the reach and conferences will be one way we could do that.”
The interrelationship between the development of the field and the development of UCEA
10:33 UCEA has really been important at every stage of the development of the field itself. And if you look at the national commission that I mentioned, UCEA was very much involved in that. And Dan Griffiths was completely committed to UCEA, and he was the chair of that group.
But in subsequent things, the shift, and some of these shifts have been more gradual, but the shift to focusing on equity and social justice, UCEA has played a critical role there. The Jackson Scholars, I know in the studies we did of the professoriate, and I'd be glad to talk more about them, we saw an increase in the minority representation. But my guess is that last study we did was in 2008, that it's much higher now.
How Female Representation in Faculty Has Shifted
12:55 One of the major differences are female representation. And there was 2% of the faculty, literally, I was just saying we can meet in a phone booth when I entered the deal, and that was true. But we had four female faculty members already. We truly could meet in a phone booth. But 2% of the faculty were women in ‘72. And then by ‘08, almost at parity. And my guess is now probably more of the faculty are women than men. So, that was huge. And in some of those studies, women were more oriented towards social justice and equity, issues that, by the ‘08 study, the differences in attitudes was not nearly as significant as it had been in the earlier studies
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