Board # 48 : A Mentoring Paradigm for URM and Emeriti Engineering Faculty: Does Quantity of Contact Determine the Quality of the Relationship for Mentees?
- Conference
- Location
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Columbus, Ohio
- Publication Date
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June 24, 2017
- Start Date
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June 24, 2017
- End Date
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June 28, 2017
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
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NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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10
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--27864
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/27864
- Download Count
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491
Paper Authors
Comas Lamar Haynes Georgia Tech Research Institute
Comas Lamar Haynes is a Principal Research Engineer / faculty member of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and Joint Faculty Appointee at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research includes modeling steady state and transient behavior of advanced energy systems, inclusive of their thermal management, and the characterization and optimization of novel cycles. He has advised graduate and undergraduate research assistants and has received multi-agency funding for energy systems analysis and development. Sponsor examples include the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and NASA. Dr. Haynes also develops fuel cells and alternative energy systems curricula for public and college courses and experimental laboratories. Additionally, he is the co-developer of the outreach initiative, Educators Leading Energy Conservation and Training Researchers of Diverse Ethnicities (ELECTRoDE). He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Florida A&M University and his graduate degrees (culminating in a Ph.D.) from Georgia Tech; and all of the degrees are in the discipline of Mechanical Engineering.
Sylvia L. Mendez University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Dr. Sylvia Mendez is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Leadership, Research, and Foundations at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Her educational and professional background is in the history of P-20 education. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Kansas, her M.S. in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Colorado State University, and her B.A. in Economics from Washington State University. Sylvia's research centers on the educational attainment and schooling experiences of Mexican descent youth in the mid-20th century, higher education student success, and the principal-counselor pre-service professional relationship. She teaches foundations, research, and supervised practice courses in the Educational Leadership MA Programs and the Leadership, Research, and Policy Ph.D. Program.
Valerie Martin Conley PhD University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Valerie Martin Conley is dean of the College of Education and professor of Leadership, Research, and Foundations at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She previously served as director of the Center for Higher Education, professor, and department chair at Ohio University. She was the PI for the NSF funded research project: Academic Career Success in Science and Engineering-Related Fields for Female Faculty at Public Two-Year Institutions. She is co-author of The Faculty Factor: Reassessing the American Academy in a Turbulent Era.
Rosario A. Gerhardt Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Rosario A. Gerhardt is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In addition to her engineering research interests, she is also interested in improving diversity at the K-12, undergraduate, graduate and faculty level. She has been primary organizer as well as a faculty mentor for several Future Faculty Workshops. She also worked in the Office of Institute Diversity at Georgia Tech on a part-time basis from 2011-2015. She was named Senior Goizueta Faculty Chair in 2015.
Abstract
American higher education institutions are faced with a lack of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in engineering, with only 6.3% of all engineering faculty identifying as URM (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, 2014). An increase in mentoring opportunities for URM faculty has been heralded as a way in which to ensure their retention, tenure, and promotion in academia (Blackwell, 1989; Hyers, Syphan, Cochran, & Brown, 2012; Stanley, 2006). This submission reports on a new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm sponsored by NSF (14-7680) under the call and corresponding office for Broadening Participation in Engineering.
The project, entitled Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT), began in Fall 2015 with the intent of serving as an innovative complement to prevailing approaches that support career mentorship opportunities of URM faculty and the career engagement of emeriti faculty in engineering. The new paradigm encompasses three domains of mentoring: (1) career development (emeriti faculty provide assistance in the retention, tenure, and promotion of URM faculty); (2) sponsorship (emeriti faculty create opportunities for networking, exposure, and visibility with potential research collaborators and grant program officers); and (3) coaching (emeriti faculty share their wisdom about the discipline and provide professional and personal advice in successfully navigating academic careers) (Kram, 1985; Zellers, Howard, & Barcic, 2008).
Synergistic pairings of early- through mid-career URM engineering faculty from a variety of institutions with successful emeriti engineering faculty were created based upon technical expertise. Under this mentoring paradigm, URM faculty benefit from participating in activities designed to further their socialization process into the engineering academic profession and to gain access to the vast insights, greater discretionary time and networks of accomplished emeriti faculty. Opportunities to continue to engage in the discipline by providing professional expertise and to contribute to a more diversified next generation of engineering faculty provides incentives for emeriti faculty to participate in the IMPACT project. This submission shares quantitative pre- and post-survey results on the efficacy of the mentoring paradigm, addressing two research questions:
1. What is the quality of the mentoring relationships?
2. Which career development, sponsorship, and coaching activities have the mentoring matches engaged in?
Survey results demonstrate that mentors and mentees who have regular, planned contact rate the quality of their mentoring relationship stronger than those who do not. Additionally, survey results note that mentors and mentees are engaging in more coaching activities then career development and sponsorship activities but no significant difference exists. The most often cited activities include advice about university service/committee work and discussions on career successes and pitfalls. This submission will describe the aspects of a successful mentoring relationship and those areas of the mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm that were in greatest use among the mentoring matches. Additionally, implications and recommendations for the theory and practice of mentoring are offered to strengthen mentee career success and mentor disciplinary engagement.
{NSF BPE Collaborataive Awards #1542728, #1542524}
Haynes, C. L., & Mendez, S. L., & Conley, V. M., & Gerhardt, R. A. (2017, June), Board # 48 : A Mentoring Paradigm for URM and Emeriti Engineering Faculty: Does Quantity of Contact Determine the Quality of the Relationship for Mentees? Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--27864
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