Goal-match Mentoring: A New Strategy for Faculty of Color in Engineering Academia

This research paper explores the potential efficacy of a new mentoring strategy in which faculty of color in engineering are matched with emeriti faculty on a specific career goal. Through an instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) and a pragmatic lens (Patton, 2015), interviews were conducted with seven Black engineering faculty and seven emeriti faculty on the value of identifying a career goal and then selecting an emeriti mentor who can help the mentee achieve that goal. Interviews grounded by the mutual mentoring model (Yun et al., 2016) conceptual framework offered an in-depth understanding of the potential efficacy of goal-match mentoring. Deductive data analysis strategies established by Stake (1995) were utilized to examine the interview data. Three themes emerged on the potential efficacy of goal-match mentoring: (1) Identifying a career goal prior to the beginning of the mentoring match requires deep reflection on behalf of the mentee and promotes goal accountability; (2) The mentoring relationship quickly blooms as the nature of the mentoring need is identified early in the process; and (3) The expertise of the mentor is swiftly leveraged for the maximum benefit of the mentee. These findings reveal the value of mentoring relationships centered on specific goals that empower mentees to exhibit greater agency over their career trajectory.