Citation
Gorman, S., Durmowicz, M., Roskes, E., & Slattery, S. (2010). Women in the academy: Female leadership in STEM education and the evolution of a mentoring web. Forum on Public Policy Online, 2010(2), 1-21.
Highlights
-
- The authors described the Stevenson University School of the Sciences in Maryland as an example of an academic institution that deviated widely from the norm of female under-representation in STEM departments, not only among enrolled students but among faculty members and departmental leadership. They proposed several institutional mechanisms for this unusual success, including mentoring programs for several groups: academic leadership, faculty seeking promotion, new faculty, and students.
- At the time of publication, two School of the Sciences faculty members had applied for promotion under the Faculty Mentoring and Evaluation Committee system, a formalized mentoring structure through which each faculty member received support and professional guidance from a mentor group comprising the mentee’s department chair and at least two faculty peers, one from outside the department. Both faculty members were successful.
- Preliminary assessments of student mentoring programs that paired freshman biology or chemistry majors with upper-class students in their department suggest that participation augmented both mentors’ and mentees’ sense of community, support, and encouragement. In some cases, the program also promoted retention in the discipline.
Reviewed by CLEAR
May 2016