Successfully Navigating Your PhD:
A Mentoring Workshop for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and Higher Year Women/Non-Binary Economics PhD Students
Friday, November 20, 2026
10:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. ET, followed by an optional networking reception
EXTENDED Application deadline: Monday, August 17, 2026
The workshop is held in person on the day before the Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting. Workshop participants are not required to attend the SEA meeting.
Who Should Apply?
All women and non-binary economics PhD students in their third year or beyond are encouraged to apply. Students from backgrounds underrepresented in economics are especially encouraged to apply.
The application form asks for basic information and requires applicants to upload:
• A current CV
• A one-page research proposal
Applications must be submitted by Monday, August 17, 2026.
Note that participants will be selected at random from the applicant pool. If you applied in a previous year, feel free to try again, but reapplications do not get priority in subsequent rounds.
Purpose of the Workshop
By the end of their second year, most economics PhD students have completed their coursework and selected their fields. They then face the exciting, yet often daunting, task of conducting independent research, sometimes for the first time.
Students may feel overwhelmed and lost at this juncture in their studies and may not always have access to support and resources that can help them navigate graduate school successfully and make the most out of their PhD experience. Women and non-binary students remain substantially underrepresented in economics education and the profession and continue to face systemic barriers. They may also have limited access to women and non-binary peers, role models, and mentors within their departments and professional networks.
This workshop seeks to help address these needs by providing practical guidance, individualized research feedback, peer connections, and access to a broader network of mentors.
Workshop Format
Participants will be organized into small groups based on shared research interests. Each group will be matched with two mentors.
Mentors will be women or non-binary economists in the early stages of their careers, including assistant and associate professors in economics and related departments, as well as economists working outside academia in settings such as government, research organizations, think tanks, and industry.
The workshop will combine:
• Panels and question-and-answer sessions
• Small-group mentoring activities
• Informal discussions with mentors and peers
• Individualized feedback on participants’ research proposals
• An optional networking reception following the workshop
Examples of topics covered include:
• Generating and refining research ideas
• Finding and working effectively with advisors
• Collaboration and co-authorship
• Finding opportunities to present research
• Receiving and incorporating feedback
• Building professional networks
• Navigating work-life balance
Neither student participants nor mentors are required to attend the SEA Annual Meeting.
History of the Workshop
This workshop builds on the work of Professor Maya Rossin-Slater, supported by National Science Foundation Grant SES-1752203, and is modeled on earlier mentoring workshops for advanced economics PhD students. The first was held at Stanford University in September 2019 and organized by Professor Rossin-Slater; a second was held virtually in November 2020 and organized by Professors Rossin-Slater and Jennifer Doleac. The workshop is also inspired by CSWEP’s CeMENT mentoring workshops for women and non-binary assistant professors in economics. We are grateful to CSWEP and the Co-Impact Grant for funding the 2026 workshop.
Questions?
Don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us on the organizing committee with questions:
Brianna Halladay
Assistant Professor of Economics
Trinity College
Email: brianna.halladay@trincoll.edu
Orgul Ozturk
Department Chair and Professor of Economics
Darla Moore School of Business, the University of South Carolina
Email: odozturk@moore.sc.edu
Olga Shurchkov
Professor of Economics
Paula Phillips Bernstein ‘58 Faculty Director of the Madeleine K. Albright Institute for Global Affairs
Wellesley College
Email: olga.shurchkov@wellesley.edu