My Professional Career Goals And Aspirations For Higher Leadership

My professional career goals and aspirations are most accurately encapsulated from a dream which emerged from my subconscious nearly two years ago and influences me to this day. In this dream, I was on a stage preparing to present to a crowd in acceptance of an award. Before I was to speak, a video introduction played and I introduced myself as “Paris Wicker, Dean of Empathy.” Often, I find myself deconstructing this dream. I have come to understand that being a “Dean of Empathy” perfectly exemplifies my career and professional goals to be an empathic higher education executive leader. I hope to manifest this dream through the successful acceptance and completion of a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA), with an emphasis …show more content…
It is a nationally ranked program that can provide the highest quality of education, along with in-state tuition costs and evening coursework so that the opportunity to continue work experience while completing the doctorate remains an attainable possibility. In addition, the ELPA mission statement deeply resonates with my professional philosophy. I too, greatly desire to “cultivate equity and educational opportunity in a diverse and changing world.” Particularly in a state with one of the largest disparities in achievement between black and white students in the nation, my research and collaboration could have direct and far reaching implications and …show more content…
Several ELPA faculty have similar research and interests in these topics as well, most notably Dr. Rachelle Winkle-Wagner, Dr. John Diamond, and Dr. Xueli Wang. I welcome the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with these named faculty or others, as