Two SOE students invited to be Clark Scholars

Portia Newman and Mitchell Parry are both pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy and Justice

Headshots of Portia Newman and Mitchell Parry.
Doctoral candidates Portia Newman and Mitchell Parry.

Two VCU School of Education doctoral students have been invited to be scholars in the 2021 David L. Clark National Graduate Research Seminar in Educational Administration and Policy.

Portia Newman and Mitchell Parry are both pursuing their Ph.D. in Education with a Concentration in Educational Leadership, Policy and Justice. They will be attending the 2021 Clark Seminar April 7-8. This year's meeting will be a two-day virtual event with panel discussions, small group mentoring sessions, networking opportunities, and other virtual interactions with fellow scholars and Clark mentors, including some of the top researchers in the field of educational administration and policy research.

“I am very excited to be a part of this group,” said Newman. “I look forward to the many opportunities that it may provide in the future.”

Newman's research interests include Black women leaders, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, leadership theory, and strategy and culture. Her dissertation topic is Exploring the Influence of Historical and Socio-cultural Assets on Black women’s (C-suite/Senior Admin) Leadership Skills and Practice.

Parry has a variety of research interests (see Mitchell Parry: Building a voice in the community). The working title of his dissertation is Narratives of LGBTQ+ Youth in Local Sexuality Education Policy Contexts: Shifting Power in Policy Considerations. Parry said that he is studying how LGBTQ+ students are impacted by sex education curriculum.

"I want to talk to those students and find out what their needs are, and then give their feedback to the General Assembly when they're considering education legislation and standards in the next calendar year," said Parry.

The Clark Seminar is sponsored by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), Divisions A and L of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and SAGE Publications. According to the UCEA website, the majority of Clark Scholars go on to become professors at major research institutions around the world.