Meet Aimee Williamson

Isn’t it fascinating and challenging to be a part of Suffolk University?  How do you feel so far as a new faculty member of such a vibrant academic institution? I am absolutely thrilled to join the faculty at Suffolk.  I’ve been very impressed with the students, the faculty, and the leadership here at Suffolk.  There seems to be so much for students to take advantage of, both from the school itself, and from the location.  I’m enjoying becoming a part of the community here myself and look forward to spending more time taking advantage of all that Boston has to offer.

You’re teaching Public Organizational Administration this semester. So, let me ask you—why public administration? Does it demand too much patience to see the result of the job performed in this field? What has inspired you to dedicate your professional and academic life to this field?

It would be great to say that I have always wanted to dedicate my life to public administration, but the truth is that I fell into it initially and my appreciation of the field has evolved since then.  I have always be interested in the workings of government and teaching was one of only a couple careers I envisioned for myself long term.  My undergraduate majors were government and English and I planned to continue my education in political science, but I admit that I wasn’t entirely sure how it would all fit together for me.  Shortly after undergrad, I wanted to go on for a master’s degree, but we were living in a city where the closest university offering a master’s degree in political science was over an hour away.  I decided to start with a couple of courses at a local university that offered an MPA degree, thinking I could transfer those courses later into a political science degree program.  One of the classes I took was a research methods course.  That class—its content, the students, and the professor—changed the course of my career towards public administration.  All of a sudden, it all made sense—I could study, research, and teach about government, but with such clear practical applications.  The multidisciplinary nature of the field really captured my interest and, for the first time, I could see so many different areas that I wanted to research and learn more about, areas that would have practical value for managers in the public sector, for policymakers, and for my future students.  So, I have spent in various combinations of work in the public and private sectors and studying, researching, and teaching in public affairs. 

The world has changed and continues to change.  Countries are experiencing a lot of new developments, good and bad.  Can you tell us how public administration, both in theory and practice, has changed and what are new trends and skills required for being a professional in this field?

Public administration continues to evolve.  In part due to the connection to politics, public organization, and thus public administration, will always continue to change.  We are accountable to the public and public values fluctuate over time, so administrators and agencies need to adjust accordingly.  I do think there are at least a couple of new trends that are sweeping across organizations of all sectors that public administrators and non-profit managers should also keep in mind.  The first trend is the global nature of our world today.  More so than ever before, countries all over the world are intertwined in profound ways.  The second trend is the influence of technological advancements.  They are progressing at such a rapid pace in so many areas—changing means of communication, as well as influencing ways of managing people, data, and other resources.  These are both issues that public administrators should consider in managing their own organizations. 

With so many changes taking place, on what should students and new graduates focus on? 

I see the mix of theory and practice as crucial in the study of public administration.  Public administrators are responsible for so many programs and services and the importance of values such as accountability, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity fluctuate both across individuals and over time in terms of their relative importance.  I see this as one of the major challenges for public administration, because the best way to organize an agency or implement a policy today may not be the best way tomorrow.  I think some of the most valuable things an MPA program can do for students is to help them strengthen critical thinking skills, provide a rich background on theories of public administration, and help develop the ability to apply research to practice. I would hope that, by doing so, students are able to develop their instincts to be more effective practitioners.  I wouldn’t recommend that someone regularly ignore rules and regulations that apply to their organization, but I would hope that we help public administrators to assess such rules and regulations critically.

Professor Williamson, at one of my jobs, there were 11 women in my section and just one man—me.  From the beginning, it was sort of unusual, but then I found out that in certain cases, like diplomacy, negotiations, management, I was learning a lot from my female fellow colleagues.  Are there certain issues where it’s better to have a male or female manager in public administration ?

I understand your situation.  I’ve worked in the field of criminal justice, and while I was certainly not the only woman in the organization, the majority of the people I dealt with working for a sheriff’s office were men.  I agree that we can learn a lot from one another.  There is also a rich, but fairly new, body of literature on feminist thought in public administration that addresses the importance of feminist values and characteristics to the field.  I do see a real value of representativeness and diversity in public organizations, in terms of both gender and race/ethnicity.  Scholarship indicates that representative bureaucracies are more responsive to the public and, in particular, to minority groups that they serve.  I don’t know if I could ever say, however, that there are certain positions where it’s better to have a manager of one gender or another.  Perhaps there are some management positions where it’s important to have certain characteristics and such characteristics may be more prevalent in one gender or the other.  In my experience, however, “masculine” and “feminine” characteristics clearly transcend genders and based on my own personal values, I wouldn’t want anyone to assume only a woman has the necessary qualities for a job any more than I would want someone to assume that only a man does.

Can you tell us more about your life outside Suffolk?  What is your life as a mother, a spouse, and a friend?

I am married with two children, a 7 year old girl and a 13 year old boy—both wonderful kids!  My husband, Rob, works in management for a large company, but he is on leave this year as he was recently called up to active military duty.  He’s an attorney in the National Guard, and he is deployed in Iraq, working as JAG officer with a Special Forces battalion.  So, my life outside Suffolk is a bit hectic, but balancing multiple roles is pretty typical here for both students and faculty.