New appointee to empower women scholars, professionals in the field of communication

Sigal Segev, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at FIU, has been named associate director for Programming and Research at the school’s Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication.

Segev recently sat down with FIU News to answer five questions about her new position:

Can you tell us a little about the Kopenhaver Center’s mission?

The Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication was established in 2012 with the mission to empower women scholars and professionals in the field of communication in order to develop visionaries in both the academy and the industry who will become leaders in society and make a difference in their communities.

We, at the Center, attempt to initiate programs and activities that will provide women with the impetus to advance in their areas and fulfill what they are aspired to be. Inspired by our mission, we developed the Webinar Leadership Series that brings top communication professionals and scholars to share their insights and experiences about pathways for leadership and success given the dynamic and changing communication industry.

In addition, we are in the process of developing The Leadership Fellows Program that provides up-and-coming women of Hispanic descent the guidance, resources and training that will allow them to flourish and obtain leadership positions in the media industries. This program received a $30,000 grant from Henry Luce Foundation and will be implemented during the academic year of 2015-2016.

The Center have also initiated The Status of Women in Communication Benchmark Project that will start as a secondary research developed to look across multiple professional communication disciplines (i.e., newspaper, magazine, radio and television, on-line media, advertising and public relations) and provide a broad perspective on women in those fields. This research will offer suggestions or conclusions on the status of women in communication leadership.

The Communication Leadership Power Program is designed to offer SJMC students and alumni an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with individuals who attained leadership positions in the communication industries. Finally, the Career Preparedness Series brings key speakers from the communication industries to guide the SJMC students on….

As you can see, consistent with our mission, all those programs that are directed to professionals and academics as well as our students provide women with the training, advice and expertise necessary to help them further advance in their communication careers.

What are your plans for this year as the associate director?

As an associate director of the Kopenhaver Center, my plans for this year are to complete the development of The Leadership Fellows Program and start its implementation. In addition, I hope to have the first phase of the Status of Women in Communication Benchmark Project completed, and to conclude this phase in a conference, here, at the Kopenhaver Center in which the results of the study will be presented. Of course, I will continue with the current Webinar program and the programs directed at our students.

Do you have a means of gauging the Center’s impact on the lives and careers of your students?

It is too early to evaluate objectively the impact of the Center’s activities on the careers and lives of our students. However, I can say that our Leadership Webinars and seminars provide students with direct contact with the speakers (who are leading scholars and professionals) and usually, at the end of each event, I see students are approaching the speaker and networking with him/her, exchanging contact information etc., so it indeed opens up more opportunities for their future careers. In addition, the webinars add value to students with first-hand information in terms of what to expect while in the workplace, portraying them a realistic picture of the daily life of communication professionals and providing with practical advice on what to do now, while they are still in school, to further advance or to increase their chances to achieve the job that they are seeking.

What do you hope to teach students?

I hope to teach students and especially female students that they should always try to achieve what they are aspired to achieve; that they should not find reasons for why achieving their goals is impossible but why it is possible. I also hope to teach them to look around them and identify those people who can become their mentors who can give them good advice, guide them along the way and help them advance in the direction they seek to pursue. There are always good, and kind professionals around us that are more than willing to help junior professionals in the beginning of their careers.

What is your biggest accomplishment to date?

I believe that for academics there is no one big achievement, but small triumphs along the way. However, each time former students come to me and say that they used at work what they learned in my classes, I know I am doing something right. It is very rewarding to know that you teach them things that are useful for them in their careers.