Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore a new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm sponsored by the National Science Foundation (15-7680) Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering in the USA. The Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT) program pairs underrepresented minority (URM) faculty with emeriti faculty in engineering for career mentorship. Design/methodology/approach: Researchers utilized a phenomenological qualitative research design to explore the influence of the three domains of the mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm (career development, sponsorship, and coaching) through participant interviews of URM and emeriti faculty. Interviews, grounded by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), offered an in-depth understanding of the nature, meaning, and ways in which the IMPACT participants perceived the value of the mentoring experience. Findings: Phenomenological findings suggest mentees viewed IMPACT participation as a means for career progression, and mentors saw it as an opportunity to “give back” to the engineering field. Neither believed cultural or generational gaps would hamper their mentoring relationships, as their shared academic interests would facilitate a bridge for any gaps. Research limitations/implications: This paper identifies new questions related to the expectations and interests of both mentors and mentees who are engaged in a mentoring relationship. A longitudinal approach would offer deeper insight into mentoring as the relationship persists over time. Originality/value: Evidence at this stage indicates that the IMPACT program has the potential to contribute to the career progression of URM faculty through the inclusion of an often overlooked resource of emeriti faculty.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 302-316 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited.
Funding
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore a new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm sponsored by the National Science Foundation (15-7680) Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering in the USA. The Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT) program pairs underrepresented minority (URM) faculty with emeriti faculty in engineering for career mentorship. Design/methodology/approach – Researchers utilized a phenomenological qualitative research design to explore the influence of the three domains of the mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm (career development, sponsorship, and coaching) through participant interviews of URM and emeriti faculty. Interviews, grounded by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), offered an in-depth understanding of the nature, meaning, and ways in which the IMPACT participants perceived the value of the mentoring experience. Findings – Phenomenological findings suggest mentees viewed IMPACT participation as a means for career progression, and mentors saw it as an opportunity to “give back” to the engineering field. Neither believed cultural or generational gaps would hamper their mentoring relationships, as their shared academic interests would facilitate a bridge for any gaps. Research limitations/implications – This paper identifies new questions related to the expectations and interests of both mentors and mentees who are engaged in a mentoring relationship. A longitudinal approach would offer deeper insight into mentoring as the relationship persists over time. Originality/value – Evidence at this stage indicates that the IMPACT program has the potential to contribute to the career progression of URM faculty through the inclusion of an often overlooked resource of emeriti faculty. Keywords Mentoring in education, Higher education, Mentoring, Mentorship of early career faculty members, Mentoring and coaching in HE, Career counselling Paper type Research paper The underrepresentation of minority faculty in the engineering professoriate is a cause for concern across American higher education institutions (Blackwell, 1989; Ginther and Kahn, 2012; Jackson, 2004; National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), 2014). In order to address this concern, an increase in mentoring opportunities for underrepresented minority (URM) faculty has been identified as a means to mediate URM faculty career knowledge and to ensure their success in academia (Gibbons, 2004; Hyers et al., 2012; Stanley, 2006; Thomas, 2001; Tillman, 2001). Despite the value attached to mentorship, a dearth of research exists that examines the expectations and interests of those engaged in a mentoring relationship from both the mentor and mentee perspectives. Therefore, this research addresses the need by focusing on a new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm grounded by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). The National Science Foundation (15-7680) Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering sponsored this research and the corresponding Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT) program. This research addressed the need for understanding the expectations and interests in participating in formalized mentoring programs and, particularly, the way in which mentoring across race/ethnicity and gender influences the efficacy of such arrangements. The new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm sponsored by NSF holds promise in aiding URM faculty career development and emeriti faculty engagement. Through a phenomenological approach grounded by SCCT, the qualitative findings of the study support the supposition that URM faculty desire increased access to mentorship and socialization experiences in the tenure and promotion process. The findings also indicate that emeriti faculty commitment to supporting URM faculty success leads to a diversified engineering professoriate and strengthens their role in the engineering discipline. It is clear at this stage that the IMPACT program has the potential to influence the engineering faculty ecosystem by providing a new paradigm with which to support and to engage URM faculty through the inclusion of an often overlooked resource – emeriti faculty.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | 15-7680 |
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | |
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | 15-7680 |
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | |
| URM faculty career development and emeriti faculty engagement | |
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program |
Keywords
- Career counselling
- Higher education
- Mentoring
- Mentoring and coaching in HE
- Mentoring in education
- Mentorship of early career faculty members
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education