Career Development in Higher Education: A Universitas21 Social Work Community of Practice Online Webinar
Venue
Online via ZoomDescription
Career Development in Higher Education
A Universitas21 Social Work Community of Practice Online Webinar
As part of the ongoing activities of Social Work Community of Practice, we are organising an online webinar to share insights on Career Development in Higher Education. Drawing on personal journeys and institutional practices, the speakers will reflect on how contributions across teaching/learning, research/grant capture/publication, and leadership/citizenship shape a strong application for promotion. The webinar will share insights on:
- Navigating career development and progression in a busy academic environment
- Building networks – seminars, conferences, collaborative research, for example
- Making good use of opportunities – short sabbatical, writing workshops etc
- Preparing one’s application – allowing time for reflection, collation, editing, peer-reviewing
- Importance of articulating the impact of your contribution, not just evidence alone
- Developing one’s intellectual identity/project; what is one known for (particularly for promotion to professor/personal chair)
- Place of mentoring in career development
- Find out how others have developed their careers
In order to maximise participation across the time zones, there will be two sessions—one targeting colleagues in the western hemisphere (Eventbrite link 30 October 2025) and a second one for those in the eastern hemisphere (Eventbrite link 06 November 2025).
- Date: 30 October 2025
- Time: 14:00 – 15:30 hrs GMT (09:00 – 10:30 hrs EST)
Webinar Chair: Professor George Palattiyil, Personal Chair of Social Work and Refugee Studies, School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
The webinar is open to U21 Social Work Community of Practice members and those collaborators they work with from other institutions.
Registered attendees will receive the Zoom link to the webinar nearer the time.
Our speaker for this session
Rebecca L. Thomas, Ph.D., is professor at the University Of Connecticut (UConn) School of Social Work and director of the Center for International Social Work Studies. She teaches in the Policy Practice Concentration and is the chair of the focused area of International Social Work. She directs a joint academic program exchange between UConn and Yerevan State University in Armenia. Her current research and scholarship include issues related to forced migration such as climate induced migration, social entrepreneurship, remittances, international development, poverty, and human rights.
Thomas serves on the board of the Katherine Kendall Institute of Council of Social Work Education and represents the International Association of the Schools of Social Work on the NGO Committee on Migration at the United Nations. She serves on the City of Hartford Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. She is part of the Southeast Europe Academic Women’s Leadership Network. In 2024 she was a Fulbright Scholar in Sofia, Bulgaria. Thomas lectured at various universities but is housed in New Bulgaria University in Sofia where she is conducting research with service providers and Ukraine refugees in Bulgaria. She represents the School of Social work at the U21 Social Work Community of Practice.