Her Story
About Xia
I have been working full-time at Alabama A&M University since August 2016 as a tenured professor and commune researcher. I also hold a leadership role directing international programs for the College of Business and Public Affairs. My passion is about student impact and engagement, which I pursue through teaching, research, and program development, as well as engagement with professional communities, global institutions, and industry to prepare students for the future workforce. I try to engage students not only in the classroom but also outside of it, providing a platform to connect with alumni and employers for career opportunities. I invite alumni and company experts to engage with our students. I have developed international programs to engage our students for their global awareness and cultural competency enhancements, as well as for their professional and personal growth. For example, I recently led six undergraduate students selected from our college on a trip to Germany for a one-week international project at our partnership institution, Augsburg University of Applied Sciences. Before the program, we started in March with virtual workshops in collaboration with a professor at the partnership institution. In the classroom, I provide effective, engaging lectures, and I like to share my life experiences to engage my students through my stories. Outside the classroom, I try to be a mentor to students. I am passionate about research and have collaborated with different co-authors to publish 15 peer-reviewed articles in peer-reviewed journals since 2016. As an educator and professor, I am dedicated to providing service in three perspectives: teaching, research, and service at the college, university, and community levels. In the past few years, I have collaborated with professors at A&M to win funding awards from different organizations, which has allowed us to develop different programs to engage our students, especially international programs. In 2023-2024, I led a faculty team, including staff, on the Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership Institute. In 2024, we won the award to host 25 fellows from sub-Saharan African countries to come to A&M for a six-week leadership institute. That was a big accomplishment for our university, and I was the PI leading that effort.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Xia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I believe I inherited the values and character from my parents - being hardworking and goal-oriented. When I was little, my dad told me to have a dream and pursue it, so I learned to have a goal and just do it. That's what I learned from my parents: to work in a solid way to achieve my goal. I'm also blessed to be surrounded by a supporting family. We believe in Christianity and have strong faith. My husband went through a severe health challenge, but we came through it. We also exposed our kids to that faith environment when they were born, and continue to do so even now that they are older. My faith and my family's support have been central to my success.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I have had a few mentors from my PhD program, including my advisor, a former accounting professor colleague who is now retired, and another administrator who was our former dean and is now the CEO of his own company. From them, I learned that when I do anything, I should try to do it well. My guiding principle is to make an impact - pursuing impact on my students and the community. That's what I'm striving to reach. I also learned to be collaborative and to be collegial. These are the key pieces of advice I've received from my different mentors.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I want to say: be a good mom, be a good wife, be a good professional woman in your different roles. It's not easy, but you can do all those well if you just do it. Be bold enough to pursue your goals, but build good relationships with your family, your coworkers, your students, and your customers. Be dedicated. Love people and love life. That's what I believe in.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is dealing with people who have different personalities and different backgrounds. You need to have wisdom to navigate those differences, and it's not easy. Sometimes the environment is not that supportive or strong, but we still need to overcome the difficulties and challenges and just do what we are supposed to do, no matter what kind of environment or circumstances we face. For HBCUs specifically, there are both challenges and opportunities. There are constraints - for example, our students are very diverse and many are struggling with family situations and financial conditions. However, we cannot overlook that these students have dreams and want to live good lives. The opportunities are that we can still do our part to make an impact on our students and seek different opportunities for our professional development and personal development. We can utilize different opportunities, though sometimes there's too much and we just have to do one thing after the other.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I value relationships above all. I have built very good relationships with people - my students, my family, my supervisors, and my peers. Building a conducive, healthy relationship impacts the outcomes, and that's what I think is most important. Of course, there are certain other values I pursue as well, including integrity and professionalism.
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