Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

WiSE-FPP Welcomes Largest Group Yet

Monday, October 19, 2015, By News Staff
Share
STEM

WiSE (Women in Science and Engineering) has welcomed the largest cohort of participants to date for the 2015-2016 Future Professionals Program (WiSE-FPP). This year, 51 participants were nominated by 40 different faculty members.

The 2015-16 WiSE-FPP Associates

The 2015-16 WiSE-FPP Associates

WiSE-FPP Associates are women Ph.D. students who represent the full range of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines. They come from 15 different University departments within four colleges/schools, including Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science, Education and Information Studies. The group is equally diverse in nationality, hailing from Bangladesh, China, England, Hungary, India, Iran, Morocco, Turkey, Myanmar and the US.

WiSE-FPP provides professional development and career planning opportunities to women doctoral students. The program supports and encourages informal, peer-to-peer and faculty-student mentoring, as well as fostering a strong network. Faculty volunteers and campus experts lead professional development programs in areas such as writing, intercultural communication, conflict management and various aspects of career portfolio preparation. Associates benefit from opportunities to meet with other women scholars and professionals who stimulate greater depth in thinking about career pathways and work-life integration.

Preliminary data reveals  a 93 percent retention/persistence rate (graduated or still active) for full‐time STEM doctoral women students in WiSE‐FPP since the beginning of the program in 2007. Furthermore, FPP Associates report significant impact on their own success in the areas of professional leadership skills, self‐assessment, networking, career planning, communication skills and agency. One former associate said, “Participation in the FPP program has greatly impacted my time here … I have expanded upon my career opportunities, enhanced my CV and considered new and enticing careers that I had never considered before. I have also developed friendships within FPP—with both fellow participants as well as SU professionals. Research in a doctoral program can be very secluded and isolated.”

The program is led by faculty advisors including Laura Lautz (Earth sciences), Qinru Qiu (electrical engineering and computer science), and Laura VanderDrift (psychology). They, along with professional staff, are responsible for selection of nominees, program development and mentoring the WiSE-FPP Associates.

WiSE offers multiple programs for women students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty in STEM that support career excellence and persistence in their chosen fields. The WiSE faculty directors are Dean Karin Ruhlandt (College of Arts and Sciences) and Meredith Professor Shobha Bhatia (civil and environmental engineering). Fourteen women faculty serve as faculty advisors and many more STEM faculty, female and male, volunteer. Since its conception in 1999, WiSE has been at the vanguard of providing bold support for diversity and inclusion, pipeline persistence in STEM, career capacity‐building, mentoring, community networking and interdisciplinary collaboration.

For more information about WiSE-FPP or other WiSE programs, contact Program Director Sharon Alestalo at swalesta@syr.edu. You can also read more on the WiSE website http://www.suwise.syr.edu/ or view a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVh4Po5nG_0 .

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

News Staff

  • Laura V. Machia

  • Recent
  • Syracuse Stage Hosts Inaugural Julie Lutz New Play Festival
    Wednesday, May 28, 2025, By News Staff
  • Timur Hammond’s ‘Placing Islam’ Receives Journal’s Honorable Mention
    Tuesday, May 27, 2025, By News Staff
  • Expert Available to Discuss DOD Acceptance of Qatari Jet
    Thursday, May 22, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse University 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Light Work Opens New Exhibitions
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Michael J. Bunker Appointed Associate Vice President and Chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services

Syracuse University today announced the appointment of Michael J. Bunker as the new associate vice president and chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services following a national search. Bunker will begin his new role on July 1, 2025. He…

Syracuse University, Lockerbie Academy Reimagine Partnership, Strengthen Bond

Syracuse University and Lockerbie Academy are renewing and strengthening their longstanding partnership through a reimagined initiative that will bring Lockerbie students to Syracuse for a full academic year. This enhanced program deepens the bond between the two communities, forged in…

Syracuse University 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid

Syracuse University today announced a major investment in student financial support as part of its 2025-26 budget, allocating more than $391 million to financial aid, scholarships, grants and related assistance. This represents a 7% increase over last year and reflects…

Engaged Humanities Network Community Showcase Spotlights Collaborative Work

The positive impact of community-engaged research was on full display at the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) on May 2. CFAC’s galleries showcased a wide array of projects, including work by the Data Warriors, whose scholars, which include local students…

Students Engaged in Research and Assessment

Loretta Awuku, Sylvia Page and Johnson Akano—three graduate students pursuing linguistic studies master’s degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences—spent the past year researching and contributing to assessment and curricular development processes. The research team’s project, Peer-to-Peer Student Outreach…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.