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Unpacking Engineering Faculty’s Discrepant Views of Mentoring through the Lens of Attachment Theory

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Faculty Development Division (FDD) Technical Session 6

Tagged Division

Faculty Development Division (FDD)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44556

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/44556

Download Count

119

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Paper Authors

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Jennifer Hadley Perkins Arizona State University

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Samantha Ruth Brunhaver Arizona State University

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Samantha Brunhaver, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor within The Polytechnic School of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Her primary areas of research include engineering career pathways and decision-making, undergraduate student persistence, professional engineering practice, and faculty mentorship. Brunhaver graduated with her B.S. in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

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Adam R. Carberry Arizona State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-0041-7060

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Dr. Adam Carberry is an associate professor at Arizona State University in the Fulton Schools of Engineering, The Polytechnic School. He earned a B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from Alfred University, and received his M.S. and Ph.D., both from Tufts University, in Chemistry and Engineering Education respectively. His research investigates the development of new classroom innovations, assessment techniques, and identifying new ways to empirically understand how engineering students and educators learn. He currently serves as the Graduate Program Chair for the Engineering Education Systems and Design Ph.D. program. He is also the immediate past chair of the Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN) and a deputy editor for the Journal of Engineering Education (JEE). Prior to joining ASU he was a graduate research assistant at the Tufts’ Center for Engineering Education and Outreach.

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Abstract

The term mentorship can be interpreted in a variety of ways. This research paper examines the interpretation and individual mentoring experiences of three engineering faculty across ranks to capture their discrepant views toward faculty support relationships. In the context of a larger qualitative study to identify and compare perceptions of effective engineering faculty-to-faculty mentorship from the perspectives of both mentors and mentees, three engineering faculty stood out as markedly different from their fellow interviewees. Specifically, these three stood out because, while they each actively provide mentor-like support to other faculty or students, they expressed reluctance or aversion toward labeling these relationships as mentorship. This seemingly contradictory set of attributes motivated a closer examination of their stories. Data for this work are semi-structured interviews collected during the larger study. We frame our analysis using Attachment Theory, which describes how and when humans seek out support through "safe haven" and "secure base" functions. Safe Haven support is sought when an individual is in distress, and Secure Base support provides an anchor for independent exploration. The attachment system produces differing states of security related to underlying anxiety and avoidance dimensions. Differences in attachment states influence responses to social interactions and willingness to participate in close relationships such as mentoring. Our findings highlight the characteristics, causes, and consequences of three attachment states as they relate to faculty support interactions. By considering outlier cases of faculty support relationships, this work provides new ways of thinking about faculty mentorship and offers an approach to potentially remediate negative mentoring experiences.

Perkins, J. H., & Brunhaver, S. R., & Carberry, A. R. (2023, June), Unpacking Engineering Faculty’s Discrepant Views of Mentoring through the Lens of Attachment Theory Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44556

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