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Female Faculty

The Office of Faculty Advancement (OFA) coordinates the following development opportunities for female faculty. Mailings with program information, dates and applications are sent by faculty.advancement@biola.edu to female faculty every term. For more information about each of these programs or events, please connect with our Program Coordinator, Karina Serrano.

Female Faculty Leadership Development Initiative

The Leadership Development Initiative offers professional training for interested and qualified female faculty who are desirous of pursuing leadership roles in higher education such as department chair, dean, and cabinet-level positions. Working in a cohort of 6-10 female faculty, this program meets once-a-month over the course of the academic year. By the end of participating in this one-year leadership development program, participants will be able to:

  • Interpret, analyze and evaluate the strategic, business, and financial realities of higher education by taking a “balcony view,” with a leadership lens, of the academic landscape.
  • Assess the costs, risks, benefits, and options of moving from faculty roles into administrative positions.
  • Cultivate skills to navigate common barriers, traps and hurdles that face female faculty aspiring to administrative and leadership roles in the academy as well as at Biola.
  • Build a professional network with women in a variety of disciplines and connect with high-level leaders in the university.
  • Assemble a toolkit of best practices for female faculty in leadership roles and positions.
  • Create a professional development plan that includes envisioning your own leadership gifts, capacities, and strengths and mapping a path to your identified leadership goals.

An application is required and participation pends on approval by the committee.

Research & Writing Learning Community Work Group

The Research & Writing Learning Community Work Group is dedicated to assisting participants with establishing research and writing goals and habitual best practices to sustain these goals over the long-term. The group is mentored in this process by Dr. Liz Hall, who facilitates the group meetings and reviews writing projects. In addition to learning more about the research and writing process, group members work on individual writing projects and provide peer feedback to the writing projects of their colleagues. Participation in this group is recommended for female faculty in their early years of the professoriate and/or for faculty who are at the novice level in their establishment of a research and writing agenda. The group meets 5 times in the fall and 5 times in the spring at a date and time determined by the participants each term.

Female Faculty Fall Reception

Each fall OFA hosts an evening reception to welcome new women faculty and administrators and to celebrate the successes and achievements of women who have received promotion or tenure, terminal degrees, published, presented, and made progress in working toward other career marker points. The reception also includes a professional development topic and speaker(s).

Lactation Rooms

Biola University has the following dedicated spaces for breastfeeding women.

  • Library: in the lower level of the library, a Mamava lactation pod is available. For access, download the Mamava App.
  • Myers Hall: on the second floor at the top of the back stairwell near office #209. For access to the room, please contact the benefits coordinator in HR.
  • Emerson: for access, please contact the administrative assistance for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Additional Links

Biola is dedicated to the flourishing of female faculty at Biola. For more information on gender-related policies and support, please see the following: