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Mentorship has been established in the literature as being salient to degree completion for doctoral students. Mentoring primarily focuses on the extended academic development of a less experienced student by a more experienced faculty scholar. Federal governance policies have enabled greater participation in STEM by underrepresented populations, and as a result, enrollments in doctoral STEM programs by groups underrepresented in STEM have increased, but their success frequently hinges on support resources such as quality mentorship (Millett & Nettles, 2006). A substantial commitment to high-quality mentoring is needed to best prepare doctoral students for high skilled careers requiring innovation. This paper explores the perceptions of STEM doctoral faculty from three institutions in the southeastern part of the United States to understand their knowledge of STEM doctoral mentoring. This work seeks to improve STEM doctoral education by focusing on the mentorship relationship, an experience that is vital to matriculation, degree completion, and career planning Millett & Nettles, 2006). Using a qualitative multiple embedded case study design, the researchers interviewed and surveyed STEM doctoral faculty about their perceptions of STEM doctoral mentoring. This article focuses on five key findings from the qualitative interviews. STEM doctoral faculty: (a) have difficulty differentiating mentoring responsibilities from and in addition to advising; (b) have limited mentoring training opportunities; (c) see mentoring more exclusively as the development of scientific knowledge; (d) lack meaningful understanding of the role of culture in mentoring; and (e) lack deep understanding of the importance of relational connections with mentees. 

Underrepresented minority (URM) students have not been well represented within the ranks of doctoral degree holders or faculty in STEM disciplines despite the increased attention in recent years to this concern. URM students lag considerably behind White and Asian students in degree completion and faculty appointments. One intervention widely touted as effective in promoting positive outcomes is mentoring however URM students often lack access to mentoring and just as importantly mentors lack culturally responsive knowledge, skills and dispositions required to be effective mentors to URM students. A qualitative study was conducted to better understand how the knowledge, skills and dispositions of STEM faculty align with culturally responsive mentoring. Three themes were constructed from the data: role ambiguity, preparedness, and culture of doing. The study concluded that faculty need more and better training around cultural responsiveness to meet the needs of URM students. 

Underrepresented minority (URM) students have not been well represented within the ranks of doctoral degree holders or faculty in STEM disciplines despite the increased attention in recent years to this concern. URM students lag considerably behind White and Asian students in degree completion and faculty appointments. One intervention widely touted as effective in promoting positive outcomes is mentoring however URM students often lack access to mentoring and just as importantly mentors lack culturally responsive knowledge, skills and dispositions required to be effective mentors to URM students. A qualitative study was conducted to better understand how the knowledge, skills and dispositions of STEM faculty align with culturally responsive mentoring. Three themes were constructed from the data: role ambiguity, preparedness, and culture of doing. The study concluded that faculty need more and better training around cultural responsiveness to meet the needs of URM students. 

The purpose of this work in progress paper is to understand the influence of mentoring on the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM doctoral student experience. This qualitative case study sought to determine the impact of how mentoring relationships between faculty doctoral mentors and STEM doctoral students. This research emphasizes the role of mentoring as part of an intervening strategy for doctoral retention and suggest culturally responsive mentoring as a means to improve the experiences of PhD underrepresented minority (URM) students. This study addresses a gap in the literature related to culturally responsive mentoring and the STEM disciplines. The findings were developed from four focus group interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and coded by the research team. Data were analyzed using constant comparative methods as an iterative process to extrapolate key words and identify significant patters [1]. This study uses critical inquiry as a theoretical framework. Our findings revealed that mentoring takes place within a complex environment framed by systems of inequity grounded in race and gender. Three themes were constructed from the data: mentoring as a biased environment, lack of responsiveness to student needs, and relational tensions. This briefly examines one themes: mentoring as a biased environment. The data highlight how the past experiences of faculty contribute to their bias standpoints. Bias may be based on race, gender, or age, and may be implicit or explicit. Within this environment doctoral students are challenged to navigate the spaces such as the classroom and laboratory that can be wrought with the difficulties springing from gender and race. This paper is relevant to mentoring and STEM as it acknowledges that mentoring is a heavily nuanced practice with important cultural implications relative to PhD STEM students and faculty. 

To assess the efficacy of routine activity theory (RAT) for explaining phishing victimization and guide evidence-based policy, we launched two phishing attacks via a university Listserv ( N = 25,875). The first email offered access to a pdf file; the second offered free concert tickets. Several interesting findings emerged demonstrating phishing victimization results from network users’ routine behaviors. Students were significantly less likely to open the phishing email sharing a pdf but more likely to open the email offering free concert tickets. Moreover, students were mor e likely to click the malicious link embedded within the phishing email in both studies, often using mobile devices. Conversely, employees were more likely to click the link while connected to the university network, thus exposing the network to greater levels of risk. Finally, the email offering concert tickets was opened at a frequency more than double the email containing the pdf. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

 

Mentoring is crucial for academic success in higher education, especially for women and minority students in STEM doctoral programs. The purpose of this paper was to examine mentoring relationships involving diverse doctoral students studying in the STEM programs at the university in the southeastern part of the United States. Data collection methods included focus groups with twenty-five students and individual interviews with nine underrepresented minority students studying at various STEM programs. Data was analyzed using an inductive process. The findings reveal a few missing pieces to effective mentoring that are connected with feelings of lack of personal, social, and cultural inclusion in mentoring relationships. These findings call for transformation of mentoring in graduate STEM education.