CAPPING OFF A
COLORFUL CAREER

As the newly appointed Dean of Social Science, Paula England, shares all the attributes that represent the modern NYU Abu Dhabi scholar: a rich and distinguished academic journey, experience in leadership positions at the very top of her field, and a desire to make her work more international. When it comes to headship though, she shares a characteristic that is widely regarded as the hallmark of great chiefs: she never set out to become a leader, and certainly not an academic administrator.

In fact, the Silver Professor of Arts and Sciences at NYU, who has published prolifically over her decades as a professor, has actively avoided roles like department chair or dean, fearing the responsibility would draw her away from teaching and research.

However, when the Chair of Sociology role became vacant in NYU, England felt a call to lead the department despite “scrupulously avoiding a role like that” previously. She felt that she could help out temporarily as the chair, and quickly found, thanks to her organizational skills, that she was not only good at it but that she enjoyed the role.

Having served as the chair in New York, and having been told about the deanship position at NYUAD, England decided that she would apply. Describing her thinking, she said,“I thought it would be an interesting capstone to my career to help this place continue to develop. I had already had so much history with NYUAD. I knew this campus was such an incredible place, and I liked and respected the people. So, I decided to go for it.”

DAY ONE

Although England was appointed as dean as of fall of 2021, the American academic has been a regular feature on the faculty roster since classes were being taught in Sama Tower more than ten years ago.

Seeing the University grow in an annual time-lapse, seven weeks at a time, led her to make the decision to take the role of dean of what she views as an excellent and vibrant faculty.

“I’ve been very impressed coming seven weeks a year, and seeing how the University is developing and what an incredible place it is with the faculty from all around the world, and with research that is so internationally oriented,” she said.

In the initial class she taught in 2011, and in the one she has taught each year since as affiliated faculty, England enjoyed campus diversity, and the enriching presence of students in her class offering global insights. Her teaching of NYUAD’s diverse students had a profound effect on her work, professionally and personally.

In England’s first class, while teaching a segment about marriage and gender, she found that three of her ten students came from societies where their marriage would probably be arranged by their parents. In response, England adjusted the curriculum to bring in more global content. This departed from the way she was used to teaching her classes – based on research on the US.

Over the years, England, whose research heavily involves statistical analysis of survey data, began incorporating more international data sets in her teaching and in her own research. In one of her classes, she was assisted by a graduate student whose mother was from Egypt. Eventually, this mentee, Eman Abdelhadi, and England wrote and published a research paper using an international data set, the World Values Study.

ACADEMIA TO LEADERSHIP

As an academic, England uses concepts from sociology and economics to analyze gender arrangements and gender inequality. For the majority of her career, she focused on these gender dynamics in the US and other affluent societies. But her experience at NYUAD, which goes back a decade before her recent appointment as dean, has led her to branch out to women’s status around the globe.

As one of the first faculty to have taught in NYUAD, England witnessed the cultivation of the faculty roster at the young University, saying that every year she was more impressed by the research NYUAD faculty members were conducting. She is also involved in NYU Shanghai as a Research Affiliate of the Center for Applied Social and Economic Research.

As dean, she wants to continue to attract talented faculty members from around the world and to foster a globalism in research and teaching in the context of the world-renowned educational practices that has made American universities the most sought-after destination in the world for faculty and students alike.

Among the ambitious and lofty ideals England has challenged herself with, it all boils down to one essential goal: empower our community and grow the talent we have. She explained her aim like this: “I know it sounds like a low-level goal but one of my aspirations for being dean really is to not waste a faculty’s time in unproductive meetings. I want us to get things done, and to try to figure out where to direct our efforts.”