Kiley McLean, PhD, MSW, MSEd

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

Leadership means creating space, not taking it up. It means redistributing power, listening deeply, and building trust. The most impactful leaders I’ve learned from often don’t have letters behind their names—they lead through care, truth-telling, and making space in systems never built for them.

What do you consider to be your most important career achievement or milestone?

Receiving the AWIS Spark Award and securing my first tenure-track role were major milestones this year—but what stays with me most is seeing my students speak up, challenge ableism, and claim their brilliance out loud in spaces not built for them.

What do you aspire to accomplish in your career and why? What obstacles will you overcome?

I want to make disabled and autistic lives better—through research, policy, clinical, and systems change—always in deep collaboration with the community. We have to push against systemic ableism, underfunding, misinformation, and the neglect and violence that threaten disabled people’s wellbeing.

Describe an amazing opportunity in your STEM career.

My 2-year postdoc with the Policy and Analytics Center (PAC) team at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute has been an incredible opportunity to work on an interdisciplinary team—beyond just social work—to holistically address the systems shaping autistic adults’ lives.

How was AWIS helped you professionally and/or personally?

AWIS gave me a sense of belonging in a field that often feels isolating. Receiving the Spark Award—which honors early career leaders advocating for diversity and inclusion in science—was incredibly validating. It reminded me that women in STEM are building power together.

What is your favorite word? (only one word)

Inclusion

How do you define it?

Inclusion means reimagining systems so that those most often excluded—disabled, autistic, racialized, queer folks—are not just present but centered, valued, and shaping the work. It’s not about fitting in—it’s about changing the space itself.

How has this word influenced or inspired your career?

Inclusion drives every part of my work—from research and policy, to teaching and mentorship. It pushes me to ask: who is this for, who’s left out, whose knowledge is centered? I aim to co-create with community, challenge gatekeeping, and build classrooms and systems where those most excluded lead.

How does AWIS impact your career journey?

AWIS reminds me I’m not alone in this work. In a field that can feel isolating and exclusionary, AWIS builds power and connection. Receiving the Spark Award affirmed that inclusion is real science—and that justice-focused leadership matters in STEM.

What are you currently reading or listening to?

Lately I’ve been listening to nonstop ABBA remixes—joyful, high-energy, and perfect for spin class playlists (I teach spin classes on the side!). I’m also revisiting Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha—a powerful reminder that access and care are collective.

What do you consider the best professional or personal advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I’ve received: find or build spaces rooted in disabled joy. We’re taught to value only tragedy or “overcoming,” but joy, rest, and care are resistance. These spaces fight burnout, ground our work, and affirm that disabled communities deserve more than survival.

Dr. Kiley McLean (she/her) is an assistant professor at UW-Milwaukee School of Social Welfare. Her research uses administrative data, qualitative methods, and community-led approaches to improve health and systems equity for autistic and developmentally disabled adults. Outside of work, she’s a spin instructor, Special Olympics coach, and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her partner and rescue dog, Fancy Nancy.