Road to Success
Dr. Beverly Edwards is a professor that teaches at the illustrious Fayetteville State University located in North Carolina. The 60-year-old has always had a passion for engaging with people and working in the field of policy or advocacy. While researching careers, she noticed that social work gave her the most diverse options for career. Social workers can work in the mental health field, at nursing homes, social services department, in corporate organizations such as Netflix, and the list goes on. She received her bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University, her master’s from Ohio State, and her PhD from Clark Atlanta University. All of her
degrees are in Social Work. After obtaining her bachelor’s she immediately went for her Master’s. After receiving her master’s, she started working at the Department of Social Services.
During the three years that she was employed at the Department of Social Services she worked in the department of Child Protective Services (CPS) in addition to Adult Protective Services (APS). She was able to place children in healthier homes that experienced abused as well as older adults that experienced the same trauma. In APS she witnesses a lot of instances where family members or caretakers would take advantage of the older adult by taking their money.
Although she loved working with this population, she faced work burnout, which is where an individual faces physical and emotional exhaustion from work. She was interested in research and teaching, so she decided to look up PH.D programs. Her most recent publication is a comparative analysis of students who are in the advance standing program, which are students that were selected to be in a one-year master’s program. The publication compared the knowledge that the students had in the beginning of the program and then after the program was over. Professors with tenure must complete research, teach, write grants, and serve on committees. Dr. Edwards’s favorite research project was in Ethiopia where she received a grant to address the homeless population in the community. The grant afforded her the opportunity to fly to the country for a month as well as receive funding for food and housing. Participants from the research were also given an incentive after the research was completed. While staying in the country she learned the culture and lifestyle of the people from Ethiopia. Ethiopia does not have as many resources compared to the United States of America. Majority of the individuals that were homeless were under 18 and coming from the rural side of the country. They were running away from child marriages and looking for a better way of life. Although the rural areas were poor the capital was just as poor. The country does have a department for social services; however, their resources were limited. The interactions between the homeless participants and the research team went well. They wanted to speak to the research team because they knew that they did not have an ulterior motive. A PH.D student from one of the universities in Ethiopia was able to translate with the homeless participants. Now that Dr. Edwards teaches full time, it is harder for her to travel for research projects.
Aside from being a full-time professor she is actively serving on committees: college, school, university, and community committee. Each committee mission is to serve the population by enhancing a particular population. For example, the university committee focuses on mentoring students to develop their research interest. To stay grounded , she performs self-care. She does not take work home with her; whatever is not finished at work will get finished the next day. At home she likes to read and spend with family.
By Marasri Yarborough
03-13-2022