ETSU professor one of 40 chosen for leadership institution

An associate professor of psychology at ETSU was recently selected for the American Psychological Association’s 2016-2017 Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology.

Stacey Williams, who is also the director of experimental training at ETSU, is one of 40 women psychologists chosen across the nation.

“The Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology focuses on women in the middle of their careers,” Williams said.

“It amazed me when I had realized I had already been here for 10 years.”

Before Williams came to ETSU, she had received her Ph.D in psychology from Kent State University.

She then went on to do postdoctoral research for social research at the University of Michigan.

According to the American Psychology Association website, the mission of the Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology is to “prepare, support, and empower women psychologists as leaders to encourage changes in institutional, organizational and practice settings as well as APA governance, and to increase the diversity, number and effectiveness of women psychologists as leaders.”

The institute is a project that includes both an education and a research component.

The Leadership Institute Women Psychology education and training component is represented by the highly interactive workshops held two times a year and by the webinars held bimonthly on leadership development topics.

“I get to go to Washington, D.C. twice a year to go to a leadership convention,” Williams said.

“To be selected, I had to send in an application describing myself and my goals along with a letter of recommendation, which was written by the chair of my department, Dr. Wallace E. Dickson.”

A few of the goals for LIWP is to ensure that mid-career women in psychology have the knowledge and skills necessary to compete for leadership management positions, to create networks for women in psychology and to enhance the number and effectiveness of women psychologists holding leadership positions in academic, practice and other professional settings.

“Go for it,” Williams said when asked what advice she would give to young women in the Psychology field.

“Psych is an amazing field. I wake up every morning and do what I love. Just go for it. We need more women and diversity in psychology and especially women of color.”