Drexel Launches Leadership Development Program for Women

The International Center for Executive Leadership in Academics at Drexel University is now accepting applications for the inaugural 2012-13 class of the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering (ELATE at Drexel™) Program.

ELATE at Drexel will be selecting an elite class of 24 fellows from the United States and Canada to participate in the one-year, part-time program for senior faculty women in academic engineering, computing and related fields.

ELATE at Drexel addresses the need to increase the diversity and leadership capacity of engineering, computer science and related fields within academe. Although women receive 20 percent of Ph.Ds awarded in the United States, they account for only five percent of full professor positions and only 11 percent (41 of 379) go on to become engineering department heads (data from NSF and ASEE).

ELATE at Drexel addresses the need to increase the diversity and leadership capacity of engineering, computer science and related fields within academe. Although women receive 20 percent of Ph.Ds awarded in the United States, they account for only five percent of full professor positions and only 11 percent (41 of 379) go on to become engineering department heads (data from NSF and ASEE).

The ELATE fellowship curriculum is modeled after the successful 16-year-old Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM®) program for medicine, dentistry and public health (700 alumnae, including 35 percent of female deans in U.S. medical schools, 46 percent of female deans in U.S. dental schools) and adapted to the needs of engineering leaders.

As Dr. Bruce Eisenstein, interim dean of Drexel’s College of Engineering explains, “The statistics of ELAM are incredible and the program has shown that you can put those who are interested through the fellowship and they will excel. We expect that ELATE will show the same kind of results. Of course, it is important to recognize that relative to gender, the issues faced in engineering are more severe than those of medicine
Applications for the 2012-13 fellowship year are due by January 5, 2012.

For more information about ELATE at Drexel and the application process, visit the website at www.drexel.edu/engineering/ELATE. For additional questions, contact ELATE@drexel.edu or 215-895-8240.