Education Edge » Frank Fernandez Selected as Isom Fellow

 

Frank Fernandez Selected as Isom Fellow

by UM School of Education on April 7, 2020
Fernandez

Frank Fernandez, assistant professor in UM’s Department of Higher Education was recently selected as an Isom Fellow with the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies.

The Isom Fellows Program is a two-year fellowship that is funded by the Office of the Provost. Fernandez was one of five fellows the Isom Center selected to support research surrounding issues in gender and sexuality.

“I’m excited to take part in the Isom Fellows program,” Fernandez said. “We’re hoping to establish a gender studies minor option for the Ph.D. in higher education. I see this as one way to strengthen the relationship between the Isom Center and the Department of Higher Education.”

Fernandez’s fellowship project will entail a critical quantitative analysis to examine inequitable admissions and enrollment in U.S. law schools. His preliminary analysis suggests Black women have a statistically significant lower chance of admittance to highly-ranked law schools, compared to the rest of the applicant pool, even after controlling for LSAT scores and undergraduate GPA. 

Fernandez also notes law schools are gatekeepers to positions of influence and power in U.S. society, including state and federal judicial systems, legislative and executive branches of government, and a variety of industries. Although scholars have sought to address the underrepresentation of women or racial minorities in law schools and the legal profession, they tend to examine gender and race separately.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for Dr. Fernandez, who has quickly become an indispensable part of the Department of Higher Education,” said Neal Hutchens, chair and professor of higher education. “He is a very talented scholar, and his selection as an Isom Fellow will only enhance and complement the already important work that he is doing involving gender and STEM. As the Department and the Isom Center are also launching a new partnership for a PhD in Higher Education with an emphasis in Gender Studies, having our faculty build even stronger connections with the Isom Center is more welcome than ever.”

By Veronica Crawford