Thread by @WomenInStat

Hello everyone – I’m so excited (and nervous!) to get to tweet with you all this week. I’ll start by telling you some general things about myself.

I’m an Associate Professor of Statistics at Northwestern University and a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. I also Co-Direct the Statistics for Evidence-Based Policy and Practice Center. For more info see here: bethtipton.com

I call my field “Social Statistics” and I much of what I study has to do with the role of statistics in the creation and use of evidence for decision making, particularly in the field of education research.

A few things about me:

1) I defended my dissertation 10 years ago last week.

2) I quit my first PhD program in Sociology after two years to move with my boyfriend to NM for him to do Teach for America. We lived on the Navajo Nation for three years and got married while there.

3) I eventually earned my PhD in Statistics from Northwestern and was a pre-doctoral @IESResearch fellow while there.

@IESResearch 4) After graduate school, I was an Assistant Professor @TeachersCollege, where I worked with students from education policy, psychology and health. I was faculty there for 7 years before returning to Northwestern.

@IESResearch @TeachersCollege 5) I have twin boys that will be 9 soon. I had them at the end of my first year on the tenure track.

@IESResearch @TeachersCollege 6) My husband is Black and my kids are biracial. This year they were old enough to understand that the world is not fair or kind to Black people. This year has broken me in so many ways but has also motivated me.

@IESResearch @TeachersCollege 7) My kids have been at home with my husband and me since March 2020. I can’t even remember what it was like to have my work and home separate. What a year.

@IESResearch @TeachersCollege 8) I went to college at a small liberal arts school in KY @Transy. I studied math, English, and sociology. I studied abroad in Ireland.

@IESResearch @TeachersCollege @Transy 9) I was born and raised (mostly) in Berea, KY. My family on both sides has been in KY for several generations. I’m not the first to go to college, though I am the first to earn a PhD or any sort of doctorate.

@IESResearch @TeachersCollege @Transy 10) My parents were both in the Army when I was growing up. This was a huge part of my life and instilled in me the importance of service.