AWiB would like to congratulate Dr. Seble Hailu, 2014 AWiB President, for her accomplishments in finishing her doctoral studies along with her three sisters!

Dr. Seble started her doctoral studies, motivated by her immediate younger sister, Dr. Tenaye Hailu – a Marriage and Family Therapist at Mental Health Vitality Center who recruited her three sisters to buy the idea of doing their doctoral education.

Dr. Seble followed in her sister’s footsteps and joined the then-Oxford, now Omega Graduate School, Dayton, Tennessee, the following year.  Then, she encouraged her other two sisters, Dr. Meseret Hailu, Director of Patient Care Services Medical-Surgical of McLaren Flint, and Dr. Tseganesh Hailu Orcutt, Movement Disorders Specialist in Neurology Clinic at the University of Minnesota Physicians, to take their career to the next higher steps and they joined Aspen University in 2018 and 2019 respectively. 

Dr. Tenaye graduated in General Advanced Studies in Human Behavior from Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2020.  Dr. Meseret and Dr. Tseganesh graduated consecutively with a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Aspen University in Colorado in 2022 and 2023, and Dr. Seble graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy, Sociology/Social Research integrating Faith and Society from Omega Graduate School, Dayton, Tennessee in 2024.

Being the last to graduate from the four sisters, Dr. Seble stated that all four sisters intersected in doing their doctoral studies, which helped to nudge and motivate one another to finish what they started despite the different hurdles they faced.  The power of supporting, encouraging, praying, and being accountable to one another was essential in reaching the finishing line of their academic journey.

Dr. Seble, a management and psychology professional, expanded her horizon to tackle social issues and researched “Youth Entrepreneurial Readiness: Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and The Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Training.”  The evidence from her study shows the need to promote entrepreneurial self-efficacy so that youth can be confident enough to engage in entrepreneurship.

Her study recommends that policymakers stimulate entrepreneurial mentality by using higher learning institutes as a strategic position to address entrepreneurial education and training by facilitating the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of students, especially graduates. The results may also help policymakers address national unemployment issues through entrepreneurial training, boost economic growth, and curb unemployment.  

Dr. Seble dedicated her doctoral thesis to her teacher, mentor, friend, and model, Dr. Barbara Singleton, a Clinical Psychologist, a pioneer who introduced counseling services in Ethiopia in the 70s and 80s, and to the youth of Ethiopia who has endured the hardships of civil wars and political and economic instability. Despite these challenges, Dr. Seble expressed that she had faith that the youth would use their creative potential and unwavering commitment to work to transform the future of their country.

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