Articles and Papers
STEM Faculty Mentoring
Recruitment, mentoring, and development of STEM faculty to lead international programs
Abstract: Faculty-led experiential study abroad is an increasingly popular vehicle for internationalizing STEM education. However, STEM faculty can lack the necessary knowledge and experience to lead study abroad programs, and may be reluctant to get involved. At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, half of all STEM undergraduates complete interdisciplinary research projects abroad under faculty guidance, and over 25% of STEM faculty have some level of involvement in off-campus project programs. WPI's faculty development approach involves recruitment, training, mentoring, and support.
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A motivation perspective on faculty mentoring: the notion of “non-intrusive” mentoring practices in science and engineering
Abstract: Scholars have offered numerous approaches and best practices for mentoring faculty, many of which have provided valuable insight into the complex nature of the mentoring process. Yet, little attention has been paid to how faculty mentoring practices can influence a mentee’s intrinsic motivation. Through a series of 15 interviews with faculty members from mathematics, engineering, and life science, coupled with the use of self-determination theory, the author demonstrates how disciplinary backgrounds influence their needs for autonomy, competency, and connectedness, which effects their intrinsic motivation to engage in scholarly work.
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Best Practices in Academic Mentoring: A Model for Excellence
Mentoring is important for the recruitment and retention of qualified nurse faculty, their ongoing career development, and leadership development. However, what are current best practices of mentoring? The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of a model for excellence in establishing a formal mentoring program for academic nurse educators.
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Community voices: the importance of diverse networks in academic mentoring
Mentor relationships are crucial to retention, success, and wellbeing of women and underrepresented minority scientists in academia. A network of diverse mentors may support achieving long-term career goals, advancement, and retention of both mentors and mentees, thus enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
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Multiple mentoring in academe: Developing the professorial network
Previous studies in business organizations have shown that mentoring provides numerous benefits for both individuals and organizations. Most of this mentoring research has been based on traditional, hierarchical mentor–protege relationships in non-academic settings. We discuss why there is little empirical research on faculty mentoring and review changes in professors careers that necessitate a fresh look at this issue. We suggest that because of environmental changes, the traditional model of professors being guided throughout their careers by one primary mentor, usually the dissertation advisor, may no longer be realistic or desirable.
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Guide to Best Practices in Faculty Mentoring - Office of the Provost, Columbia University
The Offices of the Senior Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Career Development at CUMC and the Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion developed this guide in collaboration with the Provost’s Advisory Council for the Enhancement of Faculty Diversity. This guide was developed to help academic leaders and faculty members who wish to use mentoring as a strategy to facilitate faculty success.
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Mentoring the Mentors of Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Minorities Who are Conducting HIV Research: Beyond Cultural Competency
The majority of literature on mentoring focuses on mentee training needs, with significantly less guidance for the mentors. Moreover, many mentoring the mentor models assume generic (i.e. White) mentees with little attention to the concerns of underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities (UREM). This has led to calls for increased attention to diversity in research training programs, especially in the field of HIV where racial/ethnic disparities are striking. Diversity training tends to address the mentees' cultural competency in conducting research with diverse populations, and often neglects the training needs of mentors in working with diverse mentees. In this article, we critique the framing of diversity as the problem (rather than the lack of mentor consciousness and skills), highlight the need to extend mentor training beyond aspirations of cultural competency toward cultural humility and cultural safety, and consider challenges to effective mentoring of UREM, both for White and UREM mentors.
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Creating more effective mentors: Mentoring the mentor
Introduction: Given the diversity of those affected by HIV, increasing diversity in the HIV biomedical research workforce is imperative. A growing body of empirical and experimental evidence supports the importance of strong mentorship in the development and success of trainees and early career investigators in academic research settings, especially for mentees of diversity. Often missing from this discussion is the need for robust mentoring training programs to ensure that mentors are trained in best practices on the tools and techniques of mentoring. Recent experimental evidence shows improvement in mentor and mentee perceptions of mentor’s competency after structured and formalized training on best practices in mentoring.
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Intentional Mentoring: A Shared Journey of Discovering and Supporting Diverse Talent in Academia
Abstract: Thriving in academe for faculty of color is difficult and challenging (Gasman, 2022). Faculty of Color face enormous odds of overcoming barriers such as an unwelcoming culture, isolation, lack of professional support, imposter syndrome and disengagement from the community of scholars. In recognition of these factors, intentional mentoring provides a strategy of support in facilitating successful persistence in the academy.
This autoethnographic paper explores the mentor-mentee relationship of a tenured faculty member whose contributions in mentorship and coaching produced notable professional growth for countless doctoral students and new faculty members. Sharing the experiences of one mentee and mentor may inform the journey of uncovering some of the nuances of navigating the barriers of entry in the academy. Mack, Watson, and Comacho (2012) articulate the longstanding structural barriers in higher education that impede the professional progress of groups not traditionally present as faculty and posit that the voices of affected faculty must be heard.
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Underrepresented Minority Faculty Mentoring
Mentoring East Asian Women Science and Engineering Faculty - Karen Mancl, Katrina Lee
Abstract: The goal of this preliminary study was to develop a framework for success in mentoring East Asian women scientists and engineers. Six women participated in two-hour interviews providing oral histories that revealed some common themes. In Asia, while science and engineering studies are encouraged, especially for girls, the interviewees had little mentoring. Upon coming to the United States they found themselves isolated in their universities as both East Asian and female minorities. The study findings suggest collective mentoring through a department-formed team of senior mentors with public administrative support is a good model for East Asian women...
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Mentoring Programs for Underrepresented Minority Faculty in academic medical centers: a systematic review of the literature - Bettina M Beech, Jorge Calles-Escandon, Kristen G Hairston, Sarah E Langdon, Brenda A Latham-Sadler, Ronny A Bell
Abstract: Mentoring is critical for career advancement in academic medicine. However, underrepresented minority (URM) faculty often receive less mentoring than their nonminority peers. The authors conducted a comprehensive review of published mentoring programs designed for URM faculty to identify "promising practices."
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Mentoring New and Early-Stage Investigators and Underrepresented Minority Faculty for Research Success in Health-Related Fields: An Integrative Literature Review (2010–2020)
Abstract: Mentoring to develop research skills is an important strategy for facilitating faculty success. The purpose of this study was to conduct an integrative literature review to examine the barriers and facilitators to mentoring in health-related research, particularly for three categories: new investigators (NI), early-stage investigators (ESI) and underrepresented minority faculty (UMF). PsychINFO, CINAHL and PubMed were searched for papers published in English from 2010 to 2020, and 46 papers were reviewed. Most papers recommended having multiple mentors and many recommended assessing baseline research skills. Barriers and facilitators were both individual and institutional. Individual barriers mentioned most frequently were a lack of time and finding work–life balance.
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Conversation Cafés and Conceptual Framework Formation for Research Training and Mentoring of Underrepresented Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Obesity Health Disparities (OHD) PRIDE Program
Abstarct: The development of research training opportunities for investigators from the untapped pool of traditionally underrepresented racial/ethnic groups has gained intense interest at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The significant and persistent disparity in the likelihood of R01 funding between African American and Whites was highlighted in the groundbreaking 2011 report, Race, Ethnicity, and NIH Research Awards.
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A Longitudinal Study of How Quality Mentorship and Research Experience Integrate Underrepresented Minorities into STEM Careers
Abstract: African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans are historically underrepresented minorities (URMs) among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree earners. Viewed from a perspective of social influence, this pattern suggests that URMs do not integrate into the STEM academic community at the same rate as non-URM students. Estrada and colleagues recently showed that Kelman’s tripartite integration model of social influence (TIMSI) predicted URM persistence into science fields.
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The Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Consortium: A Blueprint for Inclusive Excellence
Abstract: The Research Centers in Minority Institutions, (RCMI) Program was established by Congress to address the health research and training needs of minority populations, by preparing future generations of scientists at these institutions, with a track record of producing minority scholars in medicine, science, and technology. The RCMI Consortium consists of the RCMI Specialized Centers and a Coordinating Center (CC). The RCMI-CC leverages the scientific expertise, technologies, and innovations of RCMI Centers to accelerate the delivery of solutions to address health disparities in communities that are most impacted. There is increasing recognition that the gap in representation of racial/ethnic groups and women is perpetuated by institutional cultures lacking inclusion and equity.
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‘‘Don’t Leave Us Behind’’: The Importance of Mentoring for Underrepresented Minority Faculty
This article examines the mentoring experiences of 58 underrepresented minority (URM) faculty at 22 research-extensive institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and focus group data, participants discussed the importance of mentoring across the life course, the ideal attributes of mentoring relationships, the challenges to effective mentoring, and the role of political guidance. These data elicited three main themes regarding mentoring:
(a) Life course practices geared toward accumulating social capital are critical,
(b) major barriers are linked to the undervaluing of faculty research areas and community-engaged scholarly commitments, and
(c) connections with mentors who understand the struggles specific to URMs at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) can assist with retention and success.
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Retention and promotion of women and underrepresented minority faculty in science and engineering at four large land grant institutions
Abstract: The current climate on college campuses has brought new urgency to the need to increase faculty diversity. In STEM fields particularly, the dearth of underrepresented minority (URM) and female faculty is severe. The retention and success of African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian and female faculty have direct implications for the quality and diversity of the future scientific workforce. Understanding the ways retention patterns differ by discipline and institution is crucial for developing a diverse faculty. This study investigates tenure attainment, retention, and time to promotion to full professor for women and URM faculty. We analyze personnel records for assistant and associate professors hired or appointed from 1992 to 2015 at four large land grant institutions. Representation of women and URM faculty in STEM disciplines increased substantially from 1992 to 2015, but mostly for women and Hispanic faculty and more slowly for black and American Indian faculty.
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Mentoring and Support for Underrepresented Nursing Faculty
Background: Nursing faculty members may need several mentors to succeed in scholarly productivity, career development, work-life balance, and socialization in the academy. Underrepresented (UR) faculty report additional challenges to success.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to search the literature for best practices in mentoring UR faculty.
Methods: An integrative review was conducted to identify best and evidence-based practices for mentoring UR faculty, including gender, sexual minority, race, ethnicity, and geographic remoteness (rural). Fifteen articles were rated on evidence and methodological quality.
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The POD: A New Model for Mentoring Underrepresented Minority Faculty
Abstract: Mentoring, long recognized as a catalyst for successful careers, is particularly important to the career development of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty. In academic medicine, mentor–protégé relationships are seriously threatened by increased clinical, research, and administrative demands and an emphasis on scholarship over citizenship. New mentoring models are needed, and they should be adaptable to a medical school’s unique structure and mission.
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Exploring the Mentoring Needs of Early- and Mid-Career URM Engineering Faculty: A Phenomenological Study
Abstract: While mentoring has been identified as a valuable resource in recruiting and retaining underrepresented minority (URM) faculty, little research has examined the difference in mentoring needs of early- and mid-career engineering URM faculty members. As these needs can change as they navigate academia and the tenure process, mentors can effectively provide guidance and support only when they have been identified. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine the mentoring needs and activities of early- and mid-career URM engineering faculty who participated in the IMPACT mentoring program and how their needs were met (Moustakas, 1994). The IMPACT program and the associated research were supported by a National Science Foundation Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering award (15-42728 and 15-42524).
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Negotiating mentoring relationships and support for Black and Brown early‐career faculty
Abstract: In this essay, we share historical and structural components of mentoring within institutions of higher education and grapple with technical and moral obligations of support. We argue for more humanizing approaches that embed personal, social, and cultural aspects of mentoring, and seek to disrupt the purposes of mentoring, and for whom? Using a critical approach, we promote justice‐oriented and equity‐driven models of mentoring that account for excessive teaching loads and service commitments for faculty at minority‐serving institutions and Black and Brown faculty at predominantly White institutions. Current promotion and tenure publish or perish models neglect the intellectual and scholarly contributions made through teaching and service and therefore hold the same level of expectations for engagement in and dissemination of research. We share our own stories as Faculty of Color navigating institutional structures during the promotion and tenure process, while also negotiating incongruent cultures of our personal and professional lives.
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Barriers to the Successful Mentoring of Faculty of Color
Abstract: Mentoring is important for career success and has been suggested to promote the advancement of faculty of color (FOC). However, some mentoring experiences may be negative and impede faculty’s success. Building upon social cognitive career theory (SCCT), the current study examines whether FOC perceive challenges around receiving mentoring and applies an intersectional lens to assess whether these challenges vary by race/ethnicity and gender. We interviewed 118 tenure-track FOC from a predominantly White, research-intensive institution. We found that FOC experienced four mentoring challenges: negative mentoring experiences, difficulty finding mentors, insufficient institutional support for formal mentoring, and lack of post-tenure mentorship among tenured faculty. We also found that Black and Latinx women were most likely to describe barriers to mentoring whereas Asian and Black men reported the fewest. We discuss the implications of our findings within the framework of SCCT, along with potential interventions that may increase positive mentoring experiences for FOC.
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Women in Stem
1. Improving the workplace for women improves it for everyone - Melanie C.W. Campbell
Abstract: I will discuss various initiatives that make the workplace more equitable for both men and women, including availability of child care, maternity and parental leaves, stopping tenure and grant “clocks” for parental and health leaves, spousal appointments,and best practices in hiring. My theme is that of an equitable workplace that promotes work life balance. I will discuss how these initiatives benefit everyone.I will summarize these issues with examples primarily of policies from my own institution and others in Canada that have made progress towards best practices.
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2. Gender Bias in STEM Fields: Variation in Prevalence and Links to STEM Self-Concept - Rachael D. Robnett
Abstract: The current study focuses on girls’ and women’s reported experiences with gender bias in fields related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). In the first set of analyses, I examined whether the prevalence of self-reported gender bias varied depending on the educational context. I then examined whether experiencing gender bias was associated with lower STEM self-concept and, if so, whether having a supportive network of STEM peers would buffer this effect. Data were collected through a self-report survey that was administered to high school girls who aspired to have STEM careers, women in STEM undergraduate majors, and women in STEM doctoral programs...
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3. What Lies beneath Sustainable Education? Predicting and Tackling Gender Differences in STEM Academic Success
Abstract: In many societies across the globe, females are still underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM fields), although they are reported to have higher grades in high school and college than males. The present study was guided by the assumption that the sustainability of higher education critically rests on the academic success of both male and female students under conditions of equitable educational options, practices, and contents. It first assessed the persistence of familiar patterns of gender bias
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4. Providing the Psychosocial Beneits of Mentoring to Women in STEM: CareerWISE as an Online Solution
Abstract: Effective mentoring, recognized to be an important component in the academic and professional development of women and minorities, may well be one of the most critical elements in the progression of women toward advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In STEM, where, despite progress, the proportion of doctorates awarded to women still hovers around 20% in computer science, physics, and engineering (National Science Board, 2014), and the attrition of enrolled women from doctoral programs exceeds that of men by as much as 9% (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008), the promise of purposive mentoring demands attention.
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5. Patching the “Leaky Pipeline”: Interventions for Women of Color Faculty in STEM Academia
Abstract: The “leaky pipeline” entails the progressive loss of competent women faculty members in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). These leaks have been identified at various career stages, including selection, promotion, and retention. Efforts to increase female representation in STEM academia have had mixed results: Although the overall percentage of STEM women faculty has increased in recent decades, the percentage of women of color faculty (WOCF) in STEM has decreased. These differential effects may stem from the fact that most existing interventions for increasing female representation in STEM academia have not been intersectional in nature. However, when the intersectionality of race−ethnicity and gender are accounted for, WOCF are more likely to thrive professionally and feel like they matter to the institution.
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6. The effects of an academic environment intervention on Science identification among women in STEM
Abstract: Academic environments can feel unwelcoming for women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Two studies examined academic environments of female undergraduates majoring in STEM fields at a university in the United States. In Study 1, we compared women in STEM who are in a welcoming environment to those in a traditional STEM environment in order to identify factors that may make environments seem welcoming to women. Women in the welcoming environment received more messages about women in STEM, were more likely to wear or carry markers of their major, and had more peer role models in STEM
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7. Mentoring of Women Faculty: The Role of Organizational Politics and Culture
Abstract: This article reports on a key finding of a phenomenological study on the mentoring experiences of women faculty. The study revealed the political climate of the organization as an essential attribute of this experience. Women faculty identified organizational culture and gender issues that affected the mentoring they received. This study suggests the need for human resource and organization development initiatives to facilitate the provision of academic mentoring for women faculty—individually, departmentally, and culturally—as a means to foster transformation and change in academic institutions.
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8. Gender inequality in academia: Problems and solutions for women faculty in STEM
Abstract: Recently there is widespread interest in women’s underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); however, progress towards gender equality in these fields is slow. More alarmingly, these gender disparities worsen when examining women’s representation within STEM departments in academia. While the number of women receiving postgraduate degrees has increased in recent years, the number of women in STEM faculty positions remains largely unchanged.
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9. African American Women Faculty at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs): Empowering through Mentoring
Abstract: Recent movements that focus on social justice and racial equity have been the impetus for demands by students and faculty at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) to pressure institutional leadership to address how systemic racism plays out in policies and practices that pose barriers to persistence and success in higher education (e.g. promotion and tenure, administrative positions) for faculty from traditionally underrepresented groups (e.g. African American, Latino/a Indigenous people). There is increasing research in this area but there is still a paucity of research on specific factors that influence persistence, career development, and advancement for African American women faculty at Predominantly White Institutions.
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10. Contributing to Diversity and Inclusion in STEM Graduate Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Women and minority groups, Black or African American, Latinos, and American Indian and Alaska Native, are underrepresented in STEM graduate education and the workforce. Broadening participation in STEM higher education can increase diversity in the workforce and help not only women and underrepresented minorities (URM) students to fulfill STEM careers, but also enable the United States to thrive in the 21st century. Moreover, research labs that are more diverse are more productive than those that are homogenous. Thus, broadening participation can help sustain and grow research communities.
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11. Best Practices in Mentoring Underrepresented Minority Women in Economics: An Introduction
It is clear that women of color are severely underrepresented in academia, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. According to data from the National Science Foundation (2017), women of color made up 11.7% of tenure track faculty, 6.1% of tenured faculty, and 4.0% of full professors across all Science and Engineering (S&E) fields in 2015.1 Since the percentages tend to be so small, disaggregated data for individual races and ethnicities across each specific discipline are difficult to locate, and in many cases, do not exist in publicly available data, particularly at the senior-level academic ranks. A natural question that arises is why are women of color so acutely underrepresented in STEM fields, including economics? The answer to this question necessitates interdisciplinary perspectives.
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12. Mentorship and Women of Color in Higher Education: The Stronger Our Voice, the Greater Impact We Might Forge
Abstract: This essay examines the experience of women faculty of color in institutions of higher education, specifically focusing on the lived experiences of Latinas and the role of mentorship. Mentorship for women of color in higher education is essential to increasing tenure rates, overall success in academia, and the retention and recruitment of Latina and African American female students, particularly in predominately White institutions, to break through the glass ceiling. This essay explores historical accounts of the formation of the education system, the history of mentorship, and the different forms of mentorship for Latinas.
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13. Women Faculty of Color and Mentoring
This study utilizes meta-synthesis to investigate what we currently know from the research literature about the mentoring experiences of women of color faculty in STEM higher education. Meta-synthesis integrates and interprets patterns across qualitative studies that explore the same or closely related topic, with the goal of theory-building. This methodology is an essential tool in researching higher analytic goals, enhancing the generalizability of qualitative research, and creating a more comprehensive understanding of the topic at hand (Finlayson and Dixon 2008; Sandelowski, Docherty, and Emden 1997; Walsh and Downe 2005; Zimmer 2004).
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Peer Mentoring
Weaving Authenticity and Legitimacy: Latina Faculty Peer Mentoring - Anne-Marie Nunez, Elizabeth T. Murakami, Leslie Gonzales
Abstract: As an alternative to typical top-down mentoring models, the authors advance a conception of peer mentoring that is based on research about collectivist strategies that Latina faculty employ to navigate the academy. The authors advance recommendations for institutional agents to support mentoring for faculty who are members of historically underrepresented groups.
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Latina Faculty Transcending Barriers: Peer Mentoring in a Hispanic-serving Institution - Elizabeth T. Murakami, Anne-Marie Nunez
Abstract: In this article, the authors conducted a research metasynthesis of publications by a group of Latina tenure-track faculty participating in a peer mentoring group, the Research for the Educational Advancement of Latin@s (REAL) collaborative, housed in one Hispanic Serving Institution. Due to the small representation of Latinas in the academy, the significance of non-hierarchical peer-mentoring structures is observed as empowering Latina faculty to develop personal and/or professional transformation. We asked, “What peer mentoring strategies can Latina faculty employ to navigate academia?” These faculty members’ experiences in building a scholarly community pose a counter-narrative to the historical isolation of underrepresented faculty in academia and suggest possibilities for women faculty of color to construct a personal and professional community in the academy.
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Staying Power: Make Sure Mentoring for New Faculty Has Lasting Effects - Katherine Gantz
Excerpt: August 2016: It’s a humid evening the week before classes begin at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM), a teaching-focused, public honors college in the rural southern Chesapeake region, and the new tenure-track and full-time visiting faculty are in our colleague’s backyard nervously milling around the appetizers. As the associate dean of faculty, I’ve spent a few days getting to know this group at New Faculty Orientation panels. I suppress my impulse to swoop in and make introductions, watching as the tenured and nearly tenured faculty begin circulating to shake hands and chat. By design, no one is wearing name tags, a departure from the rest of the week’s programming to encourage people to seek out the other members of their preassigned cohort. Soon, the volleys of friendly pointing and bashful waves confirm that the group has sorted itself into clusters of four, each with a pair of new and a pair of established professors. This is the launch of the Faculty Mentoring Cohort (FMC), our pilot program designed to bolster new faculty retention.
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Peer Mentor Development Program: Lessons Learned in Mentoring Racial/Ethnic Minority Faculty
Introduction: Mentorship is crucial for academic success. And yet, there are few mentoring programs that address the needs of underrepresented, racially/ethnically diverse junior faculty conducting health-related research in the United States.
Methods: To expand mentoring capacity for these racially/ethnically diverse faculty, we developed a Peer Mentor Development Program (PMDP) to prepare near-peers, who have similar characteristics and personal experiences, to provide support to participants in an NIH-PRIDE funded Institute.
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The Importance of Peer Mentoring, Identity Work and Holding Environments: A Study of African American Leadership Development
Abstract: Mentoring is well-known for its positive impact on diversity and inclusion across a wide variety of organizational contexts. Despite these demonstrated advantages, efforts to develop diverse leaders either through access to informal mentoring relationships or via formal mentoring programs are often complex, expensive, and frequently produce mixed results. We examine the unique impact of peer mentoring to support and develop African American leaders using a formalized program approach. Our findings show that peer mentoring is effective in providing a safe environment for the necessary work of identity to take place among African American leaders.
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The Efficacy of a Blended Peer Mentoring Experience for Racial and Ethnic Minority Women in STEM Pilot Study: Academic, Professional, and Psychosocial Outcomes for Mentors and Mentees
Abstract: To address the persistent underrepresentation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in STEM, the current study utilized a quasi-experimental posttest waitlist control group approach to examine the effect of a 1-year virtual peer mentoring program on the academic, professional, and psychosocial outcomes of graduate mentors and undergraduate mentees enrolled in STEM degree programs at two historically black institutions. The findings demonstrated that mentors and mentees participating in the mentoring program experienced increased levels of community, STEM achievement, career self-efficacy, and intent to persist in STEM degrees and careers.
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Staying Power: Make Sure Mentoring for New Faculty Has Lasting Effects
It’s a humid evening the week before classes begin at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM), a teaching-focused, public honors college in the rural southern Chesapeake region, and the new tenure-track and full-time visiting faculty are in our colleague’s backyard nervously milling around the appetizers. As the associate dean of faculty, I’ve spent a few days getting to know this group at New Faculty Orientation panels. I suppress my impulse to swoop in and make introductions, watching as the tenured and nearly tenured faculty begin circulating to shake hands and chat.
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The Benefits and Challenges of a Blended Peer Mentoring Program for Women Peer Mentors in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Abstract: Unequitable representation among genders in STEM degrees and careers remains a persisting challenge. Peer mentoring has been cited as one method for supporting women and racial and ethnic minorities in becoming interested in, experiencing self-efficacy in, and persisting in STEM. The current study was undertaken to explore how and in what ways peer mentors’ participation in the program (namely, the mentoring experience) influenced their STEM self-efficacy beliefs, interests, skills, and behaviors, including their intent to persist and actual persistence in STEM.
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Multiplied Minds: The Concentric Mentorship Approach for Building Effective Relationships
Recent national emphasis on timely and successful college completion has catapulted mentorship to the forefront of the dialogue on student success. However, few have considered the potential of mentorship past its function as a social buffer and a method of networking for career placement.
This article deals with an introduction to the conceptual foundation, the work elaborates on contemporary research in mentorship and explores the alignment of peer mentorship with an institutional network of faculty and staff who serve as mentors and academic coaches to create a holistic “web” of support services.
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Faculty peer networks: role and relevance in advancing agency and gender equity
Organizational efforts to alter gender asymmetries are relatively rare, yet they are taking place in a number of universities. In the USA, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, ADVANCE programs implement a number of interventions to improve the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women faculty. This study focused on one common intervention, faculty peer networks, and the role they play in gender equity reform. Longitudinal and cross-sectional qualitative data indicate that such peer networks function as catalysts for women’s career agency, and challenge gendered organizational practices.
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Culturally Aware Mentoring
1. Pilot study of an intervention to increase cultural awareness in research mentoring: Implications for diversifying the scientific workforce
Innovative evidence-based interventions are needed to equip research mentors with skills to address cultural diversity within research mentoring relationships. A pilot study assessed initial outcomes of a culturally tailored effort to create and disseminate a novel intervention titled Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM) for research mentors.
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2. Culturally Responsive Mentoring and Instruction for Middle School Black Boys in STEM Programs
Black boys and men are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of study and careers. In response to this problem, scholars and practitioners have created programs with same-race and same-gender mentoring components to increase Black men's presence in STEM fields. Most of the research on culturally responsive mentoring for Black boys have focused on programs in school settings. Drawing from a larger mixed-methods study, we use culturally responsive pedagogy and a youth mentoring theory to study out-of-school STEM programs for Black boys. Findings show that building meaningful relationships and interconnected culturally responsive mentoring and instruction are two important themes in successful STEM mentoring programs for Black boys. The study results expand the existing literature by providing insight into culturally responsive mentoring programs for Black boys in out-of-school settings and STEM spaces.
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3. Mentors ' Reflections on Developing a Culturally Responsive Mentoring Initiative for Urban African American Girls
Gender and culturally responsive mentoring and intervention programs are a critical means of addressing the challenges of African American girls. Yet we know little about how the needs of African American girls are considered in program development or implementation. The process of building and implementing an appropriate program for African American girls may yield improved understanding on how best to create spaces that effectively support this persistently vulnerable population. Given this, the study explores the program development and implementation thinking and experiences of African American adult female mentors who developed and implemented a culturally relevant intervention for African American girls. The current study was conducted at the conclusion of a three-week summer intervention program at an urban university in the southeastern region of the United States. The Ananse Aya Program included single-gender classes with culturally focused curriculum, instruction, and activities for urban African American female students.
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4. Culturally aware mentorship: Lasting impacts of a novel intervention on academic administrators and faculty
Abstract: National efforts to address the diversity dilemma in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) often emphasize increasing numbers of historically underrepresented (HU) students and faculty, but fall short in instituting concrete changes for inclusion and belonging. Therefore, increasing the pool of senior faculty who wish to become guides and advocates for emerging scientists from HU populations is an essential step toward creating new pathways for their career advancement. As a step toward achieving this goal, we created a novel eight-hour intervention on Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM), a program of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) targeted to faculty and administrators.
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5. Development and Implementation of a Culturally Responsive Mentoring Program for Faculty and Staff of Color
Abstract: This paper describes a mentoring program for university employees of color and American Indians that employs a culturally responsive mentoring framework. The mission of the program is to foster a community of support and interdependence to assist members to navigate the university systems, so that members can thrive and, ultimately, be successful. The partnership and collaboration among faculty, staff, and students of color across campus has created a robust mentoring network that has organically grown stronger through the diversity of members represented. This paper discusses the history, goals, components, and outcomes of the culturally responsive mentoring program, and the plans for the future.
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6. “Moving the Science Forward”: Faculty Perceptions of Culturally Diverse Mentor Training Benefits, Challenges, and Support
Abstract: There is a pressing need for deeper cultural awareness among postsecondary faculty, yet few studies focus on institutions with developing research infrastructure, which enroll large proportions of racially minoritized students. Using social exchange theory, we investigate faculty members’ perceptions of “culturally diverse mentor training,” which includes culturally aware mentor (CAM) training, Entering Mentoring, and self-designed mentor training initiatives. Data come from qualitative interviews with 74 faculty who participated in culturally diverse mentor training activities across 10 master’s and doctoral institutions in the early stages of implementing grant-funded interventions focused on determining the most effective ways to engage and retain racially minoritized students in biomedical research. Findings indicate that faculty perceived a deepened understanding of their mentees’ challenges and developed enhanced communication strategies to better appreciate cultural differences.
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7. Mentor Training to Improve Diversity in Science : A Conversation on Culturally Aware Mentoring (A Video)
In this video, Byars-Winston and Crouse Quinn discuss how racism and a lack of cultural diversity awareness in mentoring relationships negatively impacts HU trainees. They offer concrete examples of how culturally aware mentor training helps individuals identify the personal assumptions, biases and privileges that may operate in their research mentoring relationships. In the second video, Byars-Winston and Crouse Quinn offer mentor training resources and strategies to help individuals become more culturally aware, and thus better mentors.
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8. Establishing the Foundation: Culturally Congruent Mentoring for Research Scholars and Faculty From Underrepresented Populations
There are scores of university faculty and scholars from diverse backgrounds who have long researched, preached about, and presented statistics and reports to illustrate the direct and indirect effects of generations of policies and practices that have resulted in disparities in health and mental health in our country (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, 2017; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Ginther et al., 2011; Heckler, 1985; Jones, 2000; Jones, Jones, Perry, Barclay, & Jones, 2009; Satcher & Higginbotham, 2008; Valantine & Collins, 2015). In 2005, Thomas Insel, then director of the National Institute of Mental Health, called together research experts from underrepresented populations in the research field to discuss strategies to incorporate diversity in training and research methods, into existing training programs and who might be best to teach this information in university settings.
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Mutual Mentoring
1. Amplifying Voices: Investigating a Cross-Institutional, Mutual Mentoring Program for URM Women in STEM
Abstract: Underrepresented minority women in STEM comprise the faculty group most likely to leave academia. To address this issue we instituted a program called “Amplifying Voices,” a virtual, mutual mentoring program linking four groups of six women across 20 institutions. We facilitated bi-weekly Zoom meetings for two years and evaluated the effectiveness of the program. Participants reported reduced isolation, increased confidence, and enhanced self-efficacy. The groups were considered most successful when comprised of women who had similar career goals, but different perspectives, experiences, academic ranks and institutional affiliations. To inform future mentoring efforts, we identified issues and strategies frequently discussed in meetings..
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2. Mutual Mentoring Guide
Mentoring has long been viewed as a powerful means of enhancing the professional success and personal well-being of faculty members, particularly early-career and underrepresented faculty. In response, a number of institutions have developed mentoring programs, often shaped by the traditional one-on-one mentoring model of a senior faculty member guiding the career development of his/her mentee.
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3. Combating isolation: Building Mutual Mentoring Networks
Abstract: Women physicists can often feel isolated at work. Support from a grant through the ADVANCE program of the National Science Foundation (U.S. government funding) created mutual mentoring networks aimed at combating isolation specifically for women faculty at undergraduate-only institutions. This paper will discuss the organization of one such network, what contributed to its success, some of the outcomes, and how it might be implemented in other contexts.
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4. Mutual Mentoring for Early-Career and Underrepresented Faculty: Model, Research, and Practice
Abstract: In the beginning, "Mutual Mentoring" was little more than an idea, a hopeful vision of the future in which a new model of mentoring could serve as a medium to better support early-career and underrepresented faculty. Over time, Mutual Mentoring evolved from an innovative idea to an ambitious pilot program to a fully operational, campus-wide initiative. This article describes the conceptualization, design, implementation, and evaluation of a Mutual Mentoring initiative from 2006 to 2014. Findings indicate that faculty members who participated in this initiative were more likely to regard mentoring as a career-enhancing activity as well as to develop mutually beneficial mentoring relationships than were their nonparticipating peers.
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5. Mutual mentoring: Effect on faculty career achievements and experiences
Abstract: In an ever-changing academic environment, the traditional model of one senior mentor is no longer sufficient to provide faculty with the interdisciplinary perspective needed for success. We adapted, implemented and examined an interschool/interprofessional Mutual Mentoring Program.
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6. Increasing Leadership Capacity for Senior Women Faculty through Mutual Mentoring
Mentoring has long been viewed as a powerful means of enhancing the professional success and personal wellbeing of early-career faculty; however, little is known about its benefits for senior faculty. Using data from a peer mentoring community of six senior faculty women in leadership roles at a research university, this study explores the impact of mutual mentoring on leadership development. Members shared experiences and expertise, provided support and feedback regarding current work issues, and deepened social connections and relationships with other advanced-career women. The findings underscore the importance of mentoring for senior women in leadership positions and of a mutual mentoring model as an approach that promises significant benefits.
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7. Mutual Mentoring To Promote Success and Satisfaction of Women Faculty in STEM
Abstract: Mutual mentoring groups that have been meeting regularly for the past eight years have been supporting the success of women faculty in STEM disciplines. Participants gather to each “work” on career and life challenges they face, by exchanging ideas with faculty from different departments and career stages. The community and shared experience of the mentoring group also combats the sense of isolation women faculty face in male-dominated departments. We describe how to foster the grass-roots formation of successful mutual mentoring groups. Additional groups that have formed among female STEM faculty, female STEM graduate students, and non-white STEM faculty are providing a supportive environment for individuals from under-represented groups to thrive in STEM careers.
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8. Mentoring beyond Hierarchies: Multi-Mentor Systems and Models
Mentoring is critical for promoting success in the academy. Specific benefits of mentoring include socioemotional or psychosocial support, skills development and professional progress, and short-term and long-term career advancement and success (Haggard et al., 2011; Jacobi, 1991; Kram, 1985; Packard, 2016). The support of personal and professional growth through mentoring can counteract low self-efficacy, or a limited belief in one’s ability to achieve success, and result in improved competencies that support individual and career advancement (Jacobi, 1991; Kelly & McCann, 2014; Kram, 1985). To mentor effectively sometimes requires radical reformulation of the “spaces” in which mentoring occurs to craft environments that promote self efficacy broadly for diverse mentees and affirm individual identities, especially those from backgrounds underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) (Emdin, 2016).
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Virtual Mentoring
Making Visible Our Invisible Faculty: Mentoring for Contingent Online Faculty
Abstract: Since the U.S. recession, restructuring of the economy highlighted the growth of contingent workforces that provide flexibility, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness in organizations. Academe with limited resources increased reliance on contingent faculty (also known as part-time and adjunct faculty) for teaching. Contingent faculties who teach online for colleges and universities have received little attention in terms of their needs and interests. This article focuses on these invisible and voiceless faculties and presents a meta-synthesis of research that addressed contingent online faculty and mentoring strategies and programs.
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A case for a virtual STEM peer-mentoring experience for racial and ethnic minority women mentees
Abstract: While previous research has examined the effectiveness of peer mentoring from the mentee's perspective, more research is needed to uncover how and why the interplay of the peer-mentoring relationship in a virtual format, especially for racial and ethnic minority (REM) women in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) seeking a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree, impacts STEM success. This study seeks to address weaknesses in the mentoring literature by presenting a thorough and thick description of the peer mentoring experience for REM women in HBCU pursuing STEM degrees. Design/methodology/approach A multi-site case study approach (Yin, 2014) was employed to explore to what extent, if at all, and how did participating in the virtual STEM peer-mentoring experience influence peer mentees' STEM beliefs, interests, skills and behaviors...
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E-Mentoring in Higher Education: A Structured Literature Review and Implications for Future Research
Abstract: Mentoring in higher education helps learners acclimate to a new academic topic, increases the likelihood of academic success, and reduces attrition. Learners rely on the expertise and experience of mentors to help them graduate in a timely manner and advance on to their career. As online and distance education becomes more pervasive, computer-mediated mentoring allows learners to connect with their mentors in new ways. Research about mentoring in higher education includes investigations into the efficacy of virtual or e-mentoring. We conducted a literature review of research from 2009 to 2019 to identify relevant elements for implementing e-mentoring programs in higher education.
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Reassess–Realign–Reimagine: A Guide for Mentors Pivoting to Remote Research Mentoring
Abstract: Maintaining your research team’s productivity during the COVID-19 era can be a challenge. Developing new strategies to mentor your research trainees in remote work environments will not only support research productivity and progress toward degree, but also help to keep your mentees’ academic and research careers on track. We describe a three-step process grounded in reflective practice that research mentors and mentees can use together to reassess, realign, and reimagine their mentoring relationships to enhance their effectiveness, both in the current circumstances and for the future.
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Designing for Self-Efficacy: E-Mentoring Training for Ethnic and Racial Minority Women in STEM
This design case describes the tensions and resolutions related to the iterative design of a virtual STEM peer mento-ring program for White and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) women in STEM study programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Stakeholder feedback, along with a conceptual framework, including Tinto’s Institutional Departure Model and Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy, guided the design work. The second iteration featured eight self-paced, eLearning modules designed to be completed as one per week in conjunction with asynchronous and synchronous communications with program peers and faculty facilitators.
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Best Practices for Developing a Virtual Peer Mentoring Community
Abstract: This paper describes an approach for creating a virtual community for peer mentoring and provides insight, in the form of best practices, on how engineering faculty can elicit support through cross-institutional mentoring. The value of a virtual, peer-mentoring community is providing support that may be otherwise unavailable at one’s institution; it can also minimize negative impacts that may be associated with institutional power dynamics. The best practices described herein are informed by six early-career engineering education faculty that developed and participated in a virtual community of practice over the last two years. We will describe best practices for identifying a shared vision, developing possible tangible outcomes, writing operating procedures, selecting an appropriate platform for communication, and facilitating reflection and changes to practice.
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Mentoring Graduate and Doctoral Students
Mentoring Interventions for Underrepresented Scholars in Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences: Effects on Quality of Mentoring Interactions and Discussions
Abstract: Mentors rarely receive education about the unique needs of underrepresented scholars in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. We hypothesized that mentor-training and peer-mentoring interventions for these scholars would enrich the perceived quality and breadth of discussions between mentor–protégé dyads (i.e., mentor–protégé pairs). Our multicenter, randomized study of 150 underrepresented scholar–mentor dyads compared: 1) mentor training, 2) protégé peer mentoring, 3) combined mentor training and peer mentoring, and 4) a control condition (i.e., usual practice of mentoring).
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Key components of an effective mentoring relationship: a qualitative study
Background- Despite the recognized importance of mentoring, little is known about specific mentoring behaviors that result in positive outcomes. Objective- To identify key components of an effective mentoring relationship identified by proteges-mentor dyads in an academic setting. —In this qualitative study, purposive sampling resulted in geographic diversity and representation of a range of academic disciplines. Participants were from 12 universities in three regions of the U.S. (South, n=5; Northeast, n=4; Midwest, n=2) and Puerto Rico (n=1). Academic disciplines included natural sciences (51%), nursing/health sciences (31%) engineering (8%), and technology (1%).
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Minority STEM Doctoral Student Success (Experience)
Abstract: Three diverse public universities have adapted and implemented an institutional change model that proposes five core elements for achieving cultural change in colleges and universities to increase the percentage of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in STEM fields. Since URM doctoral students spend most of their time exposed to the culture of their academic department as they take classes, conduct research, and interact with department faculty, staff, and other graduate students, the climate they experience and the support they receive at the departmental level has a major impact on their success.
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Mentoring the Next Generation of Faculty: Supporting Academic Career Aspirations Among Doctoral Students
Abstract: We know little about the role of faculty mentoring in the development of interest in pursuing an academic career among doctoral students. Drawing on Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study examined the relationships between different kinds of mentoring (instrumental, psychosocial, and sponsorship) and academic career self-efficacy, interests, and goals. Analyses controlled for race, gender, field, and candidacy status. Psychosocial and instrumental mentoring predicted feelings of self-efficacy in one’s ability to pursue an academic career, and exerted significant indirect effects through that self-efficacy, on students’ interest in such a career.
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Faculty-graduate student mentoring relationships: mentors' perceived roles and responsibilities
Abstract: Scholars have demonstrated that one of the most important factors that graduate students use to ascertain the quality of their educational experience is their relationship with faculty. Research on faculty-graduate student mentoring relationships has provided valuable insights about effective practices that foster the success of graduate students. While these relationships are beneficial to both the mentor and mentee, the literature on faculty-student mentoring relationships primarily has focused either on mentoring relationships with undergraduate students or on specific types of interactions between graduate students and faculty.
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Mentoring supports and mentoring across difference: insights from mentees
Abstract: Mentoring relationships in higher education are recognized as a critical factor in preparing and socializing doctoral students and junior faculty for academic roles. We examined the practices of 12 educational leadership professors who were recipients of the Jay D. Scribner Mentoring Award, from the perspectives of 103 mentees who submitted letters in support of their nominations. The process-based relational mentoring framework was adopted for thematic analysis and two core interpretative dimensions formed: effective mentoring practices that were universally acknowledged as effective and considerations for mentoring across difference.
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Leveraging a collaborative consortium model of mentee/mentor training to foster career progression of underrepresented postdoctoral researchers and promote institutional diversity and inclusion
Abstract: Changing institutional culture to be more diverse and inclusive within the biomedical academic community is difficult for many reasons. Herein we present evidence that a collaborative model involving multiple institutions of higher education can initiate and execute individual institutional change directed at enhancing diversity and inclusion at the postdoctoral researcher (postdoc) and junior faculty level by implementing evidence-based mentoring practices. A higher education consortium, the Big Ten Academic Alliance, invited individual member institutions to send participants to one of two types of annual mentor training: 1) “Mentoring-Up” training for postdocs, a majority of whom were from underrepresented groups; 2) Mentor Facilitator training—a train-the-trainer model—for faculty and senior leadership.
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Effective Mentoring of Underrepresented Doctoral Trainees and Early Career Scholars in the Biobehavioral and Health Sciences: A Developmental Framework to Maximize Professional Growth
Effective mentoring of underrepresented scholars in the biobehavioral and health sciences is vital for the future of scientific inquiry, as well as for clinical and public health applications. Through the mentoring process, both the mentee and mentor can benefit by broadening their knowledge, skills, and perspectives relative to the professional goals and interests of the mentee. Establishing a trusting and nurturing relationship allows the mentor and mentee to identify short- and long-term goals, accompanied by strategies designed to maximize the mentee’s success. Many relationships benefit from establishing explicit working guidelines early on, with recognition that flexibility may be necessary as the relationship matures.
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How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty
The mentor’s responsibilities extend well beyond helping students learn what is entailed in the research and writing components of graduate school. First and foremost, mentors socialize students into the culture of the discipline, clarifying and reinforcing—principally by example—what is expected of a professional scholar.
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Mentoring to Degree Completion: Examining the Influence of Race and Mentorship on Black Students' Doctoral Experience
Doctoral program attrition has consistently remained an issue in higher education with approximately fifty to sixty percent of doctoral students leaving their degree programs without earning the degree. Of particular concern is the disparity between Black graduate students’ attrition rates and their peers. Less than half of Black doctoral students earn their degree within ten years. To address this challenge, the study considers the variables that affect Black doctoral students’ programmatic experiences. Mentors have often been cited as primary agent of doctoral program achievement. As key conductors of the socialization process, they have the ability to affect students’ experiences within their doctoral program.
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Mentoring Graduate Students Online: Strategies and Challenges
Abstract: The proliferation of online graduate programs, and more recently, higher education institutions’ moves to online interactions due to the COVID-19 crisis, have led to graduate student mentoring increasingly occurring online. Challenges, strategies, and outcomes associated with online mentoring of graduate students are of primary importance for the individuals within a mentoring dyad and for universities offering online or blended graduate education. The nature of mentoring interactions within an online format presents unique challenges and thus requires strategies specifically adapted to such interactions. There is a need to examine how mentoring relationships have been, and can best be, conducted when little to no face-to-face interaction occurs. This paper undertook a literature review of empirical studies from the last two decades on online master’s and doctoral student mentoring.
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Doing, Caring, and Being: “Good” Mentoring and Its Role in the Socialization of Graduate Students of Color in STEM
Abstract: This chapter applies and extends Weidman, Twale, and Stein’s (2001) socialization framework by incorporating sociocultural conceptions of learning (SCL) to more deeply explore how relationships and interactions with faculty can foster students’ socialization, learning, and process of becoming scientists. Interviews with seventeen Black and Latinx science graduate students suggest good mentors offer both opportunities to engage in community practices, or activities specific to the intended career (e.g., presentations, research), as well as focused guidance regarding how to engage in skills and behaviors that would allow them to become scientists.
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Peer Mentoring in an Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Program: Student Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on education. During this time, educators were tasked to develop creative and new ways to engage and teach students. Mentoring has been shown to positively impact academic and psychosocial outcomes and can enhance clinical skills in both in-person and e-learning environments. However, there is need for further research on peer mentoring programs in occupational therapy curriculum.
Method: This retrospective qualitative study investigates the effects of peer mentoring on student perceptions of learning and professional development. Experiences were tracked for three semesters during the pandemic at an accredited entry-level occupational therapy program in the US. The students answered two to three questions at the end of each semester; qualitative analysis followed.
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