About Heather.

Hello, and Welcome.

Heather Nester, MHR has 12+ years of experience in higher education with focuses in teaching, advising and coaching, student engagement and mntorship, and undergraduate admissions. Her research focuses on career exploration, the development of professional identity, how personality and values tie into professional aspirations, and the importance of intentional career counseling. She has published and presented at the local, regional, and international level on her research and pedagogical approach.

She currently serves as an Assistant Professor focused on Career Education & Exploration in the College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies at the University of Cincinnati.

Her teaching philosophy is grounded in narrative leadership. She strives to help students identify and create their own narrative – how they want to be a leader, as well as what a leader means to them and their field. By reflecting on their own narrative, as well as the values that drive them, they are able to craft a career approach that is unique to what they want to accomplish. The genuine connection built through this approach, grounded in intentional and open dialogue with students, is built on the framework that every student has the right to define career for themselves. Foundational to her teaching philosophy is building trust by acknowledging the multiple theoretical approaches to career – and that they are all valid. She strive to have students develop their own buy-in, develop their critical thinking, and create a career worth having as they define it.

Chapter Author in “Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Education: Equitable Career Learning, Development, and Preparation in the New World of Work .”

Published Writer for the National Association for Colleges & Employers (NACE), the Cooperative Education & Internship Association (CEIA), and the National Career Development Association (NCDA).

Faculty Award Winner for Promoting Student Development Outside of the Classroom (2020-2021).

Speaker and Presenter focused on Career Education, Personality and Career Assessment, and Professional Reflection with an Emphasis on Narrative Leadership