The Cohort Sistas Podcast

Today, we're joined by the inspiring Dr. Shelly Ann Gajadhar, a Caribbean woman from Trinidad and Tobago, who shares her incredible journey from being a criminal prosecutor to obtaining her doctoral degree focusing on the Triple Helix Model of partnerships between universities, industry, and government. Dr. Gajadhar shares her challenges and successes in finding the right university program,...

At the end of episodes 202 to 219, we asked our guests to share advice with listeners embarking on a Ph. D. journey. This episode is a compilation of all that they shared, from Dr. Jen Fry’s word of warning not to let younger students make you feel inferior to Dr. Natasha Johnson’s thoughts on imposter syndrome and taking a break. Hear Dr. Anna Ampaw’s wisdom to think carefully before pursuing doc...

What you focus on during your doctoral program can heavily influence the state of your well-being. Your doctorate can be a scary, confusing, and complex time, and oftentimes a lot of your foundations can be up in the air. So give yourself some room to breathe! On this week’s episode of The Cohort Sistas podcast, we welcome a special guest, Dr. Ebony Butler. Dr. Ebony is a licensed psychologist and...

The story we bring to life today is that of Dr. Marvette Lacy, the Founder, and CEO of Qual Scholars, a coaching and membership program that helps higher education professionals and doctoral students finish their dissertations and build consulting businesses. Dr. Lacy received her Ph. D. in college student affairs and administration from the University of Georgia. In this episode, Dr. Lacy tells u...

In this episode of Cohort Sistas, the podcast, we speak with Dr. Mikal Woldu, who received her Ph. D. in Social Anthropology from SOAS University of London. Dr. Woldu is of Eritrean heritage and grew up in Italy before moving to London. This migratory pattern both shaped her personal life and informed her research questions, primarily dealing with the practices and attitudes of second-generation A...

Today’s guest Dr. Kristen Nichole turned to pole movement as a way to cope with the stress of doing a Ph. D. This led her to start her business, Polecology, while continuing to work in qualitative research. In this episode, she shares her story with us. Tuning in you’ll hear about her Ph. D. in Applied Community and Social Psychology, her dissertation project on identity and counter-storytelling a...

When you are in the midst of doing a doctoral program it’s easy to get swept up in the work and sideline other important aspects of your life, like building friendships and finding community. But when we do this we miss out on potentially life-changing connections and deprive ourselves of the opportunity to fully experience a truly unique time in our lives. In addition to her intuitive knack for a...

Today we speak with Dr. Terrion Williamson, an associate professor of Black Studies and Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. Originally from Peoria, Illinois, Dr. Williamson didn’t have an awareness of what it would mean to go to grad school and completed a law degree before she found the career path most suited to her. In this episode, she joins us to talk about...

We are so lucky and excited to sit down with Dr. Toyin Alli in today's episode to talk about her inspiring and somewhat unusual path through academia, and why she chose to focus on teaching above all the other areas of the tertiary educational space. Dr. Alli also shares about her amazing company, the Academic Society, and its work helping students through developing time management, producti...

Dr. Reka Barton received a Ph. D. in education from the joint doctoral program with San Diego State University and Claremont Graduate University. Today, she works as a diversity postgraduate faculty fellow for the School of Leadership and Educational Sciences at the University of San Diego. Having worked in education in various capacities before beginning her doctoral studies, Dr. Barton is a visu...

We all know that the journey to getting your Ph. D. can be arduous and often non-linear, but what happens after you’ve received your degree? What if the traditional academic path doesn’t turn out to be precisely what you want to do? Today, we welcome to the podcast Dr. Fatu Badiane Markey; a science programs officer at the Rita Allen Foundation and co-host of the We Love Science podcast. Before tr...

Conducting research with vulnerable populations calls for a special kind of humility and self-awareness. Joining us today to share her doctoral journey and provide insight into her dissertation research on formerly incarcerated mothers and their experience of re-entering society and reuniting with their children is Dr. Geniece Crawford Mondé. Dr. Mondé received her Ph. D. in sociology from Harvard...

Completing your educational journey without a break — from undergrad to earning a doctoral degree — is no easy feat. And it’s not uncommon to find that these candidates often have specific ideas on what they would have done differently after spending time working in their field and getting some distance from their studies. Such is the case with today’s guest, Dr. Ayanna Abrams, a licensed clinical...

It is one thing being a Black woman pursuing a doctoral degree, but to be a female Brazilian Black immigrant in the United States is an entirely different ball game. Today’s guest knows all about what it’s like to do a Ph. D. in a foreign country and to feel unrepresented in her university both in terms of race and in terms of gender. Dr. Tassiana Moura de Oliveira recently moved to the USA from B...

Dr. Julia Nepper was thrust into advanced academia at the remarkable age of 12 when she enrolled in community college. She went on to do her doctoral degree at age 18 and in this episode, we hear about her extraordinary education journey. With a Ph. D. in biophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and significant experience as a science writer, Dr. Nepper has now returned to UW-Madison as...

Dr. Nsa Dada is a vector biologist and microbial ecologist who studies how microbes shape mosquito biology and mosquito-borne disease transmission. Dr. Dada is currently an assistant professor at Arizona State University, the Mosquito Microbiome Consortium's founder. She is here today to share her experiences as a Black woman studying at reputable institutions across the globe. She tells us w...

During today’s episode, we welcome Dr. Lauren D. Kendall Brooks, who holds a Ph. D. in Health Psychology with a concentration in behavioral and community health science. She is a research scientist at Assessment for Good where she works on building innovative assessments, academic resilience in Black and Latinx adolescents and college students, and health disparities as it relates to academic achi...

Getting a Ph. D. is not for the faint of heart and as a Black woman, social isolation can make it even more difficult. Here today on The Cohort Sistas Podcast is the incredible Dr. Anna Ampaw to tell us all about the highs and lows of the pursuit of her doctoral degree. In this episode, you will hear about Anna’s background, her family of immigrants, what she is currently doing, what made her shif...

Finding the time to ‘do it all’ can feel impossible because, well, it is. Joining us today on The Cohort Sistas Podcast is Dr. Natasha N. Johnson to tell us all about how she juggles (and sometimes doesn’t juggle) being an educator, writer, and wife! Tuning in, you’ll hear all about her background, how she became an educator and studied further, the movie-like story of how she met her husband, and...

Sports and geography are deeply interconnected, often more so than most of us realize. From the ways that location impacts your fanbase as a sports team to how your identity as a Black female athlete shapes your experiences when competing overseas, there are seemingly endless ways in which sport and geography intersect. Today’s guest, Dr. Jen Fry, has done hugely important work in the field of spo...

Have you missed us? Welcome to 2023 and our exciting new season of the Cohort Sistas Podcast. Thank you for a phenomenal first season! In this episode, we shed light on why you haven’t heard from us and what brings us back now, before recapping some of our biggest takeaways from season one. We also give you a sneak peek of what we look forward to bringing you in season two. Finally, we remind you...

Today on the show we invite Dr. Thato Motlhalamme, who is here to impart some valuable and hard-won advice on pushing your comfort zones, trusting your voice, and standing up for yourself in spaces where you aren’t being heard! Author of Holding the Knife's Edge: Journeys of Black Female Scientists , Dr. Motlhalamme tells the story of her life-long love of science, her passion for addressing...

There's a common perception that if you wish to pursue academia and tenure, then you need to solely focus on institutional work. Today I'm speaking with Dr. Bukola Salami, an Associate Professor of Nursing and Director of the Intersections of Gender Program at the University of Alberta, who is living proof that that isn't the only way. Dr. Salami received her Ph. D. in nursing from...

Many of us anchor our self-worth to our achievements, be they academic, physical, or fiscal. While we may find it motivating in the short term, the long-term effects of this can often result in unhealthy coping mechanisms and a paradoxically low sense of self-worth. Our guest today, Dr. Adia Gooden, is a licensed clinical psychologist, speaker, and host of the podcast Unconditionally Worthy. She h...

While navigating a doctoral degree program as a Black woman has its challenges, if you are an immigrant studying in the USA, this path can be even more difficult. Today we speak with Dr. Clara Mundia from Kenya who received her Ph. D. in Environmental Resources and Policy from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and now works as a research director for Dalberg in her home country. In this ep...