Citation
Crumpton-Young, L., Elde, A., & Ambrose, K. (2014, June). Mentoring practices proven to broaden participation in STEM disciplines. Paper presented at 2014 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Highlights
- The study identified effective mentoring practices, mostly at postsecondary institutions, for women and minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
- The authors surveyed 25 randomly selected mentor programs or individuals who received a National Science Foundation award for being successful in mentoring students who are typically underrepresented (including women) in STEM. The survey asked award recipients to rate their performance on 22 mentoring practices using a scale ranging from not doing well to doing exceptionally well. The authors deemed those mentoring practices rated most highly as best practices.
- The study found that the highest-rated mentoring practices were being passionate about mentees and their development, creating opportunities for mentees, setting high expectations for mentees’ performance, providing needed support to mentees, and respecting mentees’ confidentiality. Conversely, the lowest-rated practices set the mentor in an authoritative light and included providing constant feedback to and having constant contact with mentees.
Reviewed by CLEAR
March 2016