ADEA, American Dental Education Association

 ADEA Strategies for Women 

Including ADEA Efforts to Support the Advancement of Women in Dental Education

  1. ADEA/Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products/Enid Neidle Scholar-in-Residence. This fellowship provides the opportunity for a female faculty member to spend a cumulative three-month period in the central office working on gender-related issues that have personal and professional benefits. Thirteen individuals (one scholar per year) have benefited from this program since its inception in 1994. Career profiles are being maintained on the progress of the scholars and their contributions to the institutions that sponsored their fellowships. 
  2. Women Liaison Officers. This program was instituted to improve the academic environment for female faculty, staff, and students by designating a point person in each school whose efforts are directed toward information exchange, networking, and mentoring. The first Women Liaison Officers (WLOs) were appointed by the dental school deans in 1992, and in 2006-07, fifty-two (93%) schools have WLOs. The WLO dental model is patterned after the AAMC/WLO model that continues to exist in medical schools throughout the United States. The WLO listserv was added in 1997 to improve communication among this community among this community.
  3. Women Administrators’ Breakfast at the ADEA Annual Deans’ Conference. This sponsored event provides a valuable networking opportunity for women administrators at dental schools. There are now 13 women deans (23% of U.S. dental deans). The value of this continued activity is being considered.
  4. Third International Women’s Leadership Conference: Theme “Global Health Through Women’s Leadership.” This global professional experience for all dental educators, practitioners, and researchers who educate, mentor, and work with women was held in tandem with the Federation Dentaire International Conference in Montreal, August 28-30 2005. The conference included internationally renowned speakers, workshops, and networking opportunities sponsored by ADEA with the co-sponsorship of 19 major dental associations and major financial support from the Procter & Gamble Company. Twenty-one countries and five continents were represented in Montreal. Proceedings were published as a supplement to the Journal of Dental Education November, 2006. The Fourth conference is being planned for the Fall 2010.
  5. Women’s Health Information Network (WHIN). This new initiative resulted from the First Women’s International Leadership Conference, in 1998. With planning funding from the Procter & Gamble Company, the network concept is expected to provide women’s health/oral health information using computing technologies that link with other women’s health data resources and contribute to curriculum changes regarding women’s health/women’s oral health. An interim report that includes web-based information regarding women’s health and women’s oral health has been completed. Funds will be sought to continue the original concept.
  6. ADEA Annual Session. Numerous aspects of the ADEA Annual Session, to be held Dallas, Texas, 2008 will focus on women’s issues and professional development. These range from the “Evening Plenary on Gender Issues,” featuring a nationally renowned speaker, to programs, symposia, and meetings. The speaker for the 2008 Discourse and Dessert was Ms. Marilyn Moats Kennedy, author and career strategist.
  7. Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM). Since the first dental fellows in this program were admitted in the class of 1996-97, 40 dental women academicians have completed this prestigious leadership program for women. Thirty-two (57%) of U.S. dental schools have had ELAM Fellows as compared with 87% of U.S. medical schools with ELAM Fellows.
  8. Other Leadership Development Opportunities. In addition to the ELAM program and ADEA’s own leadership programs, dentistry has benefited from other major leadership programs for women such as the Bryn Mawr Summer Institute, the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program, and the SELAM Continuing Education Program-Leadership Focus. The ADEA Leadership Institute, founded in 2000, has had 69 women fellows to date.
  9. Women’s Affairs Advisory Committee (WAAC).  This six-member committee serves in an advisory capacity to the ADEA Board of Directors with regard to planning and programming for the advancement of women in dental education. Two members from the ADEA Board of Directors serve as liaisons to this committee.