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JOURNEY TO PHD
​First and foremost, I started my Ph.D. journey in August 2013 as a full-time, doctoral student at Fordham University in the Graduate School of Social Service (GSS). In June 2013, I was involved in an accident and attended my doctoral program orientation with boot on my right foot and cane. As everyone walked during the tour, I fell behind and watched the elevator shut in my face due to walking so slow. At that moment, I knew that this journey would be remarkable and a transformative period of my life. While completing the degree, I worked in variouspositions as an adjunct professor at New York University, Silver School of Social Work, Fordham University, GSS, Yeshiva University, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, SUNY Empire State College, School of Human Services, trauma therapist at Safe Horizon’s Counseling Center, Field Education Director of the Alliance University, School of Social Work, Clinical Director at Safe Horizon, Safe Way Forward, and lastly, a Clinical Social Worker at a Veteran Affairs Medical Center in 2021.
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This journey has been an extensive and unwavering undertaking that included many trials and tribulations along the way. Working and going to school full-time was not easy. In addition, to getting married and becoming a mother along the way, made the journey challenging, however, worth it. During this time, I was faced with the healing my from the 2013 accident, the death of my step-father who was like a father to me, faced with a divorce and becoming a single mother, simultaneously, were not part the plan. At that time, my daughter required my love and attention. Despite, with all of these challenges, I completed my coursework and was faced with financial burden of getting through the dissertation phase, I wondered if I made the right decision.
I debated whether I should complete my studies or do something different. Then I remembered my step-father wish for me, my 5-year-old self, telling my mother at a pediatrician appointment that, “One day my office will say Dr. Erica Ponteen”, and my daughter looking up at me. Consequently, I was steadfast to my goal, I looked for multiple employment opportunities, including two to three jobs at a time and moved forward. Subsequently, I received teaching and research assistantships from GSS, networked, and worked a combination of full-time positions as well as adjunct teaching to make it.
My inspiration and motivation on my educational journey have been truly an American dream for my immigrant parents and rewriting the narrative, it is possible like my middle school teacher, Mrs. Cummings had us say and sing, “to be young, gifted, and Black.” I should have been a product of my environment and statistic as a single Black mother to not make it. I want to rewrite the Black narrative that says, women of color cannot be academically, professionally, and personally successful. I am my parents, West-Indian families (St. Kitts & Nevis & Haiti), and ancestors’ wildest dreams. We did it! Subsequently, on April 11, 2022, after 9 years, I successfully defended my dissertation and became Dr. Erica M. Ponteen and engaged to be married later that year.
The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is an annual census all individuals receiving a research doctorate from an accredited U.S. institution in a given academic year. According to the 2022 SED, 57,596 received a research doctorate degree. Female individuals with doctorate degrees accounted for 47 percent (27,069) of the overall population. Consequently, Black females accounted for about 3.4 percent (1,967) of the 57,596 individuals who received a doctorate degree. SED is sponsored by six federal agencies: the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Working with Fordham University, GSS, social service agencies, and other great institutions have informed the conceptual framework of my dissertation research dedicated to female military active-duty servicewomen and females married to active-duty servicemen is titled, Exploring the Cumulative Trauma and Abusive Parenting Behaviors Among United States Military-affiliated Mothers.
I'm happy to announce that beginning August 28, 2024, I will be starting as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Work at School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing (HS2N) at Lehman College of the City University of New York. Excited to expand my work!