Citation
Long, Z., Buzzanell, P., Kokini, K., Wilson, R., Batra, J., & Anderson, L. (2013). Exploring women engineering faculty’s mentoring networks. Proceedings of the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Washington, DC.
Highlights
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- The study described how women in academic STEM positions (compared with corporate environments) constructed their own mentoring networks; it also explored the mentoring configurations female academics preferred as support for their careers.
- The authors conducted in-depth semistructured interviews with seven female engineering faculty at a single large Midwestern university, creating detailed maps of the faculty members’ mentoring networks and evaluating the nature, importance, and perceived value of each connection.
- The study found that the female faculty were generally dissatisfied with formal mentoring relationships and instead sought mentors on their own. Faculty selected these informal mentors from among those with whom they had an existing relationship, such as a friend or co-committee member. Mentees selected multiple mentors with mixed backgrounds and characteristics to serve different purposes (for example, discussing work-life balance or career advancement) and mentees typically had at least one mentor outside of the department or university to discuss more confidential matters. Findings were generally consistent with mentor relationships in a corporate setting.
Reviewed by CLEAR
May 2016