Discovering the Right Fit: Diverse Academic and Non-Academic Career Paths

Session Type: Professional Development Session

Abstract

Developmental scientists are needed in many diverse contexts and capacities. However, many doctoral students and early career scientists are not aware of the different avenues through which they can implement their valuable skills. During this panel, we plan to share career paths in and outside of the academy and provide attendees with the tools to holistically explore their diverse options. Often, individuals are expected to be committed to the academic or non-academic path without an opportunity to parallelly explore all their options. The goal of this session is to inform SRCD attendees who are predominately developmental scientists, about the career opportunities available in and outside of the academy and how to discover the right fit for their career trajectory.
This professional development session will be led by Dr. Lorena Aceves, a first generation, Latina Research Scientist in the Education department at Child Trends. She will moderate the session and share her unique experiences in non-academic spaces as a panelist. The other panelists will include 1) Dr. Diamond Bravo, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Riverside, 2) Kevin Ferreira van Leer, PhD, an Assistant Professor in Child & Adolescent Development at California State University, Sacramento, 3) Dr. Frances Martinez Pedraza, a Program Specialist at the Office of Child Care within the Administration for Children and Families, 3) Dr. Andrea Negrete, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wesleyan University, and 5) Dr. Elizabeth Villegas, Research Scientist in the Early Childhood Development department at Child Trends.

Sub Unit

• SECC Conversation Hours

Session Organizer

• Lorena Aceves, Child Trends -Maryland

Participants

• Diamond Bravo, University of California - Riverside

• Kevin Ferreira van Leer, University of Connecticut

• Elizabeth Villegas

• Frances Martinez Pedraza, SRCD Executive Branch Fellow, Office of Child Care (OCC), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Florida International University

• Andrea Negrete, Wesleyan University