Friday, November 17, 2023
10:30 am-5:00 pm CT, followed by an optional networking reception.

Organizers:  Celeste Carruthers, Melanie Guldi, Catherine Maclean, and Orgul Ozturk

The 2023 Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association (SEA) will take place from Saturday, November 18 through Monday, November 20 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The mentoring workshop will take place the day before the main SEA meeting (Friday, November 17) and will be held in-person. Workshop mentees are not required to attend the SEA.

Applications were due by July 28, 2023.

Purpose

In most economics PhD programs, students will have completed their coursework and chosen their fields by the completion of their second year. Then, students face the daunting and exciting task of conducting their own independent research, sometimes for the first time in their lives. Students can feel overwhelmed and lost at this juncture in their studies, and may not always have access to support and resources that can help them navigate graduate school successfully and make the most out of their PhD experience.

Women and non-binary students, who are substantially under-represented in economics education and the profession and face a variety of systemic barriers, may be at a particular disadvantage, and may lack women/non-binary peers, role models, or mentors in their own departments and networks. The goal of this workshop is to begin to address this need.

The material in this call and used in the workshop is based on the work of Professor Maya Rossin-Slater (National Science Foundation Grant SES-1752203).

History and Details

The workshop will be modeled after the first workshops of this kind, the first of which was held at Stanford University in September 2019 for students from California (organized by Professor Maya Rossin-Slater) and the second which was held virtually in November 2020 (organized by Professors Maya Rossin-Slater and Jennifer Doleac). The workshop is also inspired by the CeMENT workshop for women assistant professors in economics, which is hosted by the Committee for the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) and the American Economic Association (AEA).

All 3^rd- and 4^th-year women/non-binary economics PhD students are encouraged to apply. Students from under-represented minority backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

Student participants will be organized into small groups based on shared research interests, and each group will be matched with two mentors. Mentors will be women/non-binary economists in early stages of their careers – assistant and associate professors in economics and other departments, as well as those employed outside academia (e.g., research think tanks, government positions, industry). The workshop will focus on a variety of issues, including generating research ideas, finding advisors, collaboration and co-authorship, finding opportunities to present research and get feedback, networking, and work-life balance.

The workshop will be held in-person in New Orleans, Louisiana prior to the 93^rd SEA Conference (November 18 to 20). It will include panels and Q&A sessions, as well as small-group activities and informal discussions, and will be followed by a networking reception for participants. Student participants will also receive feedback on their research proposals from the mentors. Student participants and mentors are not required to attend the SEA conference.

Admission to Workshop

The workshop will be able to accommodate approximately 35 mentees this year. If demand for the workshop exceeds this number, slots will be randomly allocated among all applicants who meet the workshop eligibility criteria.

Applicants will be notified about their admission status in August 2023.

Funding for the Workshop

With support from the Alfred P Sloan Foundation, each mentee will receive $750 for travel and hotel.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Alfred P Sloan Foundation and CSWEP for support. We are grateful to Professor Rossin-Slater for permitting us to use workshop material and for her contributions to the CSWEP mentoring programs.