Final Report
International Association of Schools of Social WorkJanuary 2015
Southeast Europe Academic Women’s Leadership Initiative (SEE)This report is respectfully submitted to the International Association of Schools ofSocial Work (IASSW) documenting completion of the first phase of the project (SEE)with financial support from IASSW in the amount of $4,000.
Rationale and Purpose
The Southeast Europe Academic Women’s Leadership Initiative (SEE), is designed todevelop leadership capacity among early career social work academics in Southeast
Europe who will serve as future leaders in educational reform in the transitionalcountries of SEE.
Project GoalsAs originally stated in the proposal to IASSW, the goals of the initiative are:
1. To prepare early career academic women in social work to assume
leadership positions in promoting educational reform in the transitionalcountries of Southeast Europe;
2. To establish international connections among the participating womenand US based social work educational programs for purposes of researchcollaboration, leadership mentoring, and curricular and organizational
reform;3. To foster the development of a regional network of participants for thepurposes of sustainable collegial support, scholarly exchange, and teachingand service exchanges;
4. To support the long-term development of quality assurance in educationthat is culturally specific to the SEE and respectful of its many ethnicities,
political divisions, and with understanding of its strong traditions
established under the repressive totalitarian regimes of the latter half ofthe 20th Century.
Project Outcomes
Likewise, as stated in the initial proposal, the outcomes are as follows:
1. Preparation of women academics in social work who will assume leadership
positions in the academy over the next 5-7 years – leading to a continuation
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of the education reform process over the coming two decades;
The establishment of an on-going mentoring program of SEE early career
academics with selected faculty and institutions (social work programs) inthe US;
The establishment of the network of participants with a plan forcontinuous contact and information exchange in support of theirprofessional growth and development and movement into leadership
positions;
The enhancement or establishment of collaborative research links
between schools and their faculty.
The establishment of faculty exchange programs for SEE doctoral students
and faculty.

Implementation ProcessImplementation of the project began with the identification of the initial cohortand securing funding for year 1 of the initiative. Eight women attended theCSWE Annual Program Meeting in Tampa, Florida, with registration, air flights
and accommodation funded by the project. CSWE offered a substantial discounton the registration as well as for the pre-conference workshops in which all of thewomen participated.
The CSWE experience was the first time that all but one (Macedonia) of theentire cohort of women were together as a group. They participated as noted inpre-conference Faculty Development Institutes, conducted a joint panelpresentation about the project and higher education and gender disparities in eachof their countries (a partnership presentation with the International Consortiumfor Social Development (ICSD). In addition, they met in a specially arranged
session with three editors-in-chiefs of top journals in the field (US and Europe)
for a discussion about publishing. One woman did a presentation on her researchin Slovenia (peer-reviewed competition). The group was recognized in various
sessions at the APM – Global Commission, Partners in International Education
Awards Ceremony, the Women’s Networking Breakfast, and the Hokenstad
International Lecture. Individual women have begun to establish ongoingcollaborative relationships with colleagues in the US. Books from the CSWE
Press were made available to each of the women at no cost – 5 were going out ofprint and one was a recent publication of the woman’s choosing.
Depending on the amount of funding secured for 2015, the women will
participate with financial support in the European Association of Schools ofSocial Work (EASSW) conference in Milan; several of the women already havefunding secured from other sources that will enable their participation. A pre2

conference Symposium has been organized and will include participation of thewomen. See link http://www.eassw.org/2015/additional-conference-events.html
Finally, five of the women have proposals accepted for the European Conferencefor Social Work Research that will be held in Ljubljana, April 2015. Theirparticipation will be partially supported by the Initiative.
In summary, the implementation process has been as follows: Cohort identified; Funding for Year 1 secured; Participation at the CSWE Annual Program Meeting, Tampa, Florida, 2326 October 2014. Presentation on SEE at Partnership session withInternational Consortium of Social Development; Participation at the EASSW Conference in Milan, Italy, 29 June – 2 July
2015. Pre-conference symposium on women and academic leadership inSEE accepted by conference organizers;
 Participation at the recently organized European Social Work Research
Association Conference (ESWRA) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, April 2015.

Participants
The participants selected are listed below. A Resume Book was developed as acontribution from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota USA anddistributed at CSWE to sponsors and others interested in the Initiative. It isprovided as an attachment to this Report. Participants from Romania, Bulgaria,
Serbia and Montenegro are being identified to add to the current participantcohort. The name designation of AFP below refers to the woman being aparticipant in the Open Society Institute – Academic Fellowship Program.
Dr. Gordana Berc, University of Zagreb, Croatia (Kendall Fellowship)
Dr. Ana M. Sobocan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (Fulbright)
Dr. Sanela Sadic, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFP andKendall Fellowship))Dr. Sanela Basic, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFP)
Dr. Vjollca Krasiniqi, University of Prishtina, Kosovo (AFP)
Dr. Elona Dhembo, Tirana University, Albania (AFP)
Dr. Erika Bejko, Tirana University, Albania (AFP)
Dr. Suzana Boranova, University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia(Fulbright)
Dr. Darja Zavirsek, University of Ljubljana, (as senior mentor in SEE)

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Participant Criteria
Selection criteria for the first cohort are as follows:
1) A strong interest in leadership;2) A home base academic situation that is not especially favorable for thisgrowth and development to take place without additional resources (humanand financial);
3) The PhD degree already awarded;
4) A research/scholarly agenda in place; and5) Current employment in the academy.

Sponsoring Organizations
The grant from IASSW was one part of the total funding. Other funds weresecured from the organizations/schools listed below:International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW)
Katherine A Kendall Institute (KAKI) of CSWE
Social Work Programs in the US:
University of Nevada – Reno;
University of Houston;
University of St. Thomas;
University of Southern California;
SUNY – Buffalo;
Boston College;
University of South Carolina;
University of Denver;
Catholic University of America;
Marywood University
Private Educational Foundation (one to one match for total – up to$10,000, contributed by Schools of Social Work).

The Future
The Initiative has been highly successful in this, its first year. The Initiative willcontinue in the first half of 2015 with attendance at the EASSW and the ECSWR
conferences and with the addition of several new participants to the cohort group.
It is expected that the women will attend the CSWE APM in Denver, Colorado inOctober 2015. With these conferences, we hope to establish a more formal4

mentoring mechanism than currently exists. In addition, the women are now
reaching out to one another for peer reviews, speaking at events across theirnational borders, identifying possible opportunities for research collaboration, andin general, forming a collegial bond for ongoing support and cooperation. Thegoals for this year (2015) are as follows:
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Solidify and formalize mentoring relationships with colleagues in USand Europe;
Build the network with additional opportunities for the participants,e.g., EASSW Milan, and ECSWR in Ljubljana in 2015;
Secure funding for the second year of the initiative;
Expand the cohort by 5 or 6 women, depending primarily on projectfunding; and extend anOpen invitation to be a participating sponsor, mentor, or advisor tothe initiative.

In its current form, this Initiative is thought to be highly transferrable to otherparts of the world. It also could be reshaped to be more global around a particulartheme that would bring early career academics together in relatively small groups
for targeted interaction and collaboration. The advantage of the regional model isthe close proximity of participants to one another; shorter travel distances makefunding issues less difficult for sustained interaction, and leadership challenges
have greater similarity at the regional level. In addition, collaborative researchpossibilities are increased through cross-boarder funding mechanisms andgeographic proximity.

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