January 2019
AERA and the Spencer Foundation are jointly sponsoring a formal mentoring and professional development opportunity to address the unique challenges faced by scholars with disabilities/disabled scholars seeking to become tenure-track faculty members. This program was developed to meet the long-standing underrepresentation of disabled scholars in the academy.
Up to 20 early career scholars and doctoral candidates will be selected to participate in the Pre-Conference Seminar for Early Career Scholars with Disabilities/Disabled Scholars, a two-day seminar to be held April 4–5 in Toronto, immediately before the start of the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting. After the seminar, the scholars will work with virtual mentors in a Virtual Mentor Program to continue their professional development and networking.
The virtual mentoring component is a short-term, low-commitment service opportunity for scholars and administrators. The goals of virtual mentoring are fourfold:
To meet this need, the program is seeking mentors, both with and without disabilities, representing all research areas within the AERA membership.