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The purpose of this work in progress paper is to share preliminary results and lessons learned from a pilot scale graduate student mentorship program being run in the spring of 2024. A wealth of research has demonstrated that LGBTQ+ individuals in engineering face a uniquely chilly environment rife with microaggressions, hypermasculine competitiveness, assumptions of heterosexuality, and overt homophobia. These experiences lead to a myriad of academic, health, and wellness issues for students and exert a pressure for all queer individuals to pass as cisgender and heterosexual to survive in the heteronormative environment of engineering. This is particularly salient for graduate students, who are in a key stage of professional development. As these students are socialized into the norms of their chosen field, they must contend with the ways these norms can be at odds with their LGBTQ+ identity. To counter this negative climate, we turn to mentorship programs, which have been shown to be highly effective for supporting minoritized students in STEM. Despite the evidence in support of mentorship programs for minoritized students, there are few programs described that focus specifically on LGBTQ+ students, and those that are reported focus on undergraduate students. To rectify this lack of programs, this paper serves as a scaffold for others to run similar mentorship programs at their home institution. We will discuss the logistics of running this program, the challenges and lessons learned, and ways in which a larger scale program can be approached. In this paper, we will also describe the impact this program had on both a student’s identity as a research scientist, and their overall perception of the climate in the engineering school at a large southern research institution.
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Triangulated Mentorship of Engineering Students - Leveraging Peer Mentoring and Vertical Integration.
The benefits of mentorship are widely acknowledged in the literature, specifically for students from under-represented groups in technical fields of study. The authors propose a triangulation methodology for mentorship that can be adopted in engineering programmes by leveraging peer mentorship and vertical integration in a project-based learning environment. Results from a pilot programme are presented to comprehend the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Results are evaluated quantitatively by evaluating student performance and student responses. Qualitative results are evaluated through data collected from student interviews. Results indicate that the mentorship programme outlined in this article has been highly beneficial to the cohort observed in this study. In addition to academic achievements, it is observed that students in the programme engaged in undergraduate research and actively participated in engineering student clubs since they understood the benefits of such participation for their future pursuits. Students in the pilot programme strongly acknowledge the benefits of triangulated mentorship.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1355872
- PAR ID:
- 10097711
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Global journal of engineering education
- Volume:
- 21
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1328-3154
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 14-23
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The purpose of this work in progress paper is to share preliminary results and lessons learned from a pilot scale graduate student mentorship program being run in the spring of 2024. A wealth of research has demonstrated that LGBTQ+ individuals in engineering face a uniquely chilly environment rife with microaggressions, hypermasculine competitiveness, assumptions of heterosexuality, and overt homophobia. These experiences lead to a myriad of academic, health, and wellness issues for students and exert a pressure for all queer individuals to pass as cisgender and heterosexual to survive in the heteronormative environment of engineering. This is particularly salient for graduate students, who are in a key stage of professional development. As these students are socialized into the norms of their chosen field, they must contend with the ways these norms can be at odds with their LGBTQ+ identity. To counter this negative climate, we turn to mentorship programs, which have been shown to be highly effective for supporting minoritized students in STEM. Despite the evidence in support of mentorship programs for minoritized students, there are few programs described that focus specifically on LGBTQ+ students, and those that are reported focus on undergraduate students. To rectify this lack of programs, this paper serves as a scaffold for others to run similar mentorship programs at their home institution. We will discuss the logistics of running this program, the challenges and lessons learned, and ways in which a larger scale program can be approached. In this paper, we will also describe the impact this program had on both a student’s identity as a research scientist, and their overall perception of the climate in the engineering school at a large southern research institution.more » « less
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Improving the level of success of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has been a prevailing concern for higher education institutions for many years. To address this challenge, a pilot initiative has been implemented with engineering students at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, a recognized Hispanic-serving institution. Over the past four years, the Program for Engineering Access, Retention, and LIATS Success (PEARLS) has brought in an innovative intervention model that combines elements from socio-cognitive career theories and departure studies to impact students' success. PEARLS has established a comprehensive range of tools and services, including mentorship, professional readiness training, research opportunities, scholarships, and peer mentor activities. These efforts have led to impressive outcomes, including a significant increase in retention and persistence rates, increased graduation rates having quad-fold those observed in the general student population, and an impressive record of engagements in industry, research, and leadership experiences. This paper discusses the program structure and outcomes from five perspectives that include background experiences, the structure of provided services, the results of their execution, the elements of knowledge derived from its application, and the challenges experienced throughout its implementation.more » « less
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