Having a diverse workforce in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) fields is essential for the United States to remain competitive in the global economy and to create a more just society. Faculty‐mentored undergraduate research experiences have been identified as a high‐impact practice for encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to pursue STEMM education and careers. Despite extensive research examining factors influencing the effectiveness of mentor−mentee relationships, there is still limited understanding of how differences or similarities in the social identities of mentors and mentees, which we term mentor−mentee discordance, impact undergraduates’ research experiences and outcomes. In this perspective, we propose that mentor−mentee discordance should be conceptualized as a multidimensional, continuous construct and suggest a global index to measure varying degrees of discordance in mentoring relationships. We also offer a conceptual model that incorporates the Discordance Index to systematize the understanding of the effects of discordant mentoring relationships on student development across social contexts and over time. Finally, we provide recommendations for future researchers, STEMM educators, and program directors who are interested in using the Discordance Index.
This content will become publicly available on June 1, 2025
Exploring Factors and Support for Effective Faculty Mentoring of Undergraduate Students in Engineering
This full research paper explores the role of faculty mentors in supporting student mentees. Faculty mentors of undergraduate students have the ability to make an academic, professional, and/or personal impact on their students. For example, mentors may provide assistance with course planning, share career goal feedback, offer life advice, etc. The benefits of these relationships may prove to be especially valuable in competitive fields such as engineering.
While students stand to gain much in mentor/mentee relationships, these interactions can be mutually beneficial, producing positive effects for mentors. Despite the importance of faculty mentoring undergraduate students, there is a gap in understanding what enables faculty mentors to feel effective in their roles. The majority of studies focus on student-related outcomes and do not delve into the mentors’ side of the relationship. Addressing this gap can serve to enhance the quality of student education by providing insight into mentoring relationships.
This paper will utilize Zachary’s model for effective mentoring to understand the foundation of effective mentoring. This model provides a framework for understanding mentor-mentee interactions by describing the seven elements of an effective relationship: reciprocity, learning, relationship, partnership, collaboration, mutually defined goals, and development. Mentors in academia are put in the position to orchestrate student growth through these areas by lending their guidance and expertise.
In order to better understand the faculty mentor experience within one-on-one and small-group faculty-to-student mentoring relationships in the undergraduate setting, this qualitative project will study a cohort of engineering faculty mentors of undergraduate engineering students at a mid-sized research university in the Midwest. Two research questions will be examined: a. What are the factors that enable faculty mentors of undergraduate engineering students to feel effective in their role? b. How can engineering faculty be supported to enhance their mentoring interactions?
The primary focus of this study will be to fill a critical gap in the understanding of faculty mentoring of undergraduate students by investigating the factors that enable faculty mentors to feel effective and proposing strategies for their support.
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- PAR ID:
- 10563361
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conferences
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Portland, Oregon
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract -
The relationship between graduate students and their research advisors within academia is pivotal to the development and success of the research enterprise. Graduate students rely on their faculty advisor to be a source of information, a departmental negotiator, and a role model to guide their professional and ethical behavior. However, if an advisor does not fully recognize a student’s best interest or they are unaware of how to be an “ethical mentor”, they may overlook the unique social capital of the graduate student (e.g., background, culture) and jeopardize the research relationship. This work aims to explore how women graduate students and faculties in science and engineering understand ethical mentoring within research relationships. Particularly, we are interested in understanding the six ethical mentoring principles suggested by Johnson (2016)—beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, fidelity, fairness, and privacy—all of which require an in-depth understanding for a productive research relationship. Qualitative analysis revealed that participants emphasized the principles of beneficence and fidelity, while principles of privacy and fairness were mentioned the least. Three key themes emerged from this analysis: (a) communication; (b) relative power between mentor and mentee; and (c) awareness (or a lack thereof) around implicit expectations within the research culture.more » « less
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Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mentoring program of the Minority Scholars from Under-Represented Groups in Engineering and the Social Sciences (SURGE) Capacity in Disasters initiative, a pilot program that aimed to address the challenges that graduate students of color face in academic programs. SURGE promotes mentoring and professional development through its mentoring program for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. Methods: Data collection involved distributing online surveys designed in Qualtrics to mentors and mentees five months after the SURGE program’s initiation. Separate surveys were created for student mentees and faculty mentors in order to collect feedback about the mentoring program. Mentees and mentors were also asked to rate their satisfaction with the specific individuals in their mentoring network so that the evaluation team could identify issues that arose across participants. Results: We found that students had several motivations for and expectations from SURGE. A majority of the students found the SURGE mentoring program to have been at least somewhat valuable in helping them achieve these expectations. Nonetheless, students did identify a few challenges, namely lack of swift responsiveness from some mentors, not enough guidance on navigating the mentor-mentee relationship, and little to no in-person interaction. While half of the students mentioned that some individuals within their mentoring team were hard to reach, a majority remained satisfied with the overall responsiveness of their mentors. This suggests that the many-to-many mentoring model helped to ensure none were entirely dissatisfied on this measure. Conclusions: These findings support previous research and show promise for mentoring as an effective intervention to the challenges that underrepresented students face in their academic programs and for their retention and representation, particularly in hazards and disaster-related fields.more » « less
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null (Ed.)Purpose The purpose of this case study is to explore the perceptions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty members toward mentoring undergraduates. Design/methodology/approach Within the context of a student scholarship and faculty development project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), STEM faculty members were interviewed at a small teaching-focused university in South Texas, United States. This research study utilized a qualitative case study approach based on semi-structured interviews with nine Mathematics and Computer Science faculty members. Transcripts were coded thematically, beginning with open coding and continuing with repeated rounds of comparison leading to the identification of four themes. Findings Four themes were identified in the data: describing settings where mentoring occurs, identifying the tasks of mentoring, developing skills for mentoring others and inhabiting the identity of a mentor. These findings suggest that increasing faculty engagement and effectiveness in mentoring STEM students may be a matter of broadening the definition of mentoring and helping faculty members develop the identity of a mentor. Practical implications In an effort to promote retention of students, specifically within STEM fields, many initiatives highlight the importance of faculty mentoring for undergraduate students. This research suggests that faculty members' perceptions of the role and structure of a mentoring relationship will shape this relationship and have an impact on student persistence and success. Originality/value While most studies of faculty–student mentoring focus on the experiences of students, this study explored faculty members' perceptions of that relationship.more » « less
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null (Ed.)The National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Frontiers and Innovation (EFRI) Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program nationally supports hands-on research and ongoing mentorship in STEM fields at various universities and colleges. The NSF EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative was designed to build and train these robust, interactive research mentoring communities that are composed of faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate student mentors, to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM research who are funded through NSF EFRI-REM. This work-in-progress paper describes the first five years of this initiative, where interactive training programs were implemented from multiple frameworks of effective mentoring. Principal investigators, postdoctoral associates and graduate students are often expected to develop and establish mentoring plans without any formal training in how to be effective mentors. Since the start of this initiative, over 300 faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate students have been trained on promising practices, strategies, and tools to enhance their research mentoring experiences. In addition to formal mentor training, opportunities to foster a community of practice with current mentors and past mentor training participants (sage mentors) were provided. During these interactions, promising mentoring practices were shared to benefit the mentors and the different mentoring populations that the EFRI-REMs serve. The community of practice connected a diverse group of institutions and faculty to help the EFRI-REM community in its goal of broadening participation across a range of STEM disciplines. Those institutions are then able to discuss, distill and disseminate best practices around the mentoring of participants through targeted mentored training beyond the EFRI-REM at their home institutions. Not only does the EFRI-REM Catalyst initiative focus on broadening participation via strategic training of research mentors, it also empowers mentees, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates, in their research experiences through an entering research undergraduate course and formal mentoring training workshops. Future expansion to other academic units (e.g., colleges, universities) builds on the research collaborations and the initiatives developed and presented in this work-in-progress paper. A long-term goal is to provide insights via collaborative meetings (e.g., webinars, presentations) for STEM and related faculty who are assembling an infrastructure (e.g., proposals for the ERFI-REM program) across a range of research structures. In summary, this work-in-progress paper provides a description of the design and implementation of this initiative, preliminary findings, expanding interactions to other NSF supported Engineering Research Centers, and the future directions of the EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative.more » « less
