This collection of articles and studies explores the role of mentorship in promoting the professional development and success of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, including Native American, African American, and women graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The studies examine the impact of mentorship programs on faculty and graduate students in STEM, as well as the challenges and biases faced by underrepresented groups in doctoral STEM mentoring relationships. The findings suggest that mentorship can play a critical role in reducing negative affect, increasing rapport, and nurturing students' needs, particularly when it is culturally responsive and supports the personal, relational, and collective experiences of underrepresented groups. The articles also call for systematic change in the postdoctoral training environment to address disparities in STEM education and increase the participation of underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields.
Brown, B., Pedersen, M., Harrington, J., Belcourt, A., Windchief, S., Thomas, A., Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills, R., Conroy-Ben, O., Brodt, E., Chief, K., Hoagland, S., Johnson-Jennings, M., Lewis, J., Green Mink, K., Milligan-Myhre, K. C., Calhoun, M., Ozburn, A., Simonds, V., Des Rosier Grant, A., Wu, K. (2022). Exploring personal, relational, and collective experiences and mentorship connections that enhance or inhibit professional development and career advancement of Native American faculty in STEM fields: A qualitative study. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000376
Brown, B., Windchief, S., Komlos, B., Arouca, R. (2020). Assessing the impact of an Indigenous Mentoring Program on faculty to support American Indian/Alaska Native graduate students in STEM. Latest TOC RSS. Retrieved from https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/magna/jfd/2020/00000034/00000003/art00004?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf.
Dickens, D. (2021). Changing the face of STEM: Review of literature on the role of mentors in the success of undergraduate black women in STEM education. Journal of research initiatives. Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10355703.
Douglas, N. C., Howell, C., Merriweather, L. R., Sanczyk, A. (2021, January 25). Mentoring is not created equal: Doctoral stem faculty perceptions of mentoring and implications for underrepresented stem learners. CoNECD - Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity - Conference. Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10218662.
Frehill, L. M., Lain, A., Jacquez, R., Luces, K., Ketcham, L., Jeser-Cannavale, C. (2007). Mentoring Experiences: A Comparison of Women and Men Graduate Students in Engineering and Natural Sciences. Conference Paper, Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN). Retrieved from https://journals.psu.edu/wepan/article/view/58493/58181.
Howell, C. D., Merriweather, L. R., Sanczyk, A., Douglas, N. (2020). Challenges in STEM Ph.D. programs: Biased mentoring. 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). https://doi.org/10.1109/fie44824.2020.9274209
Huntoon, J. E., Tanenbaum, C., Hodges, J. (2015). Increasing diversity in the Geosciences. Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 96. https://doi.org/10.1029/2015eo025897
Leitner, J. B., Ayduk, Ö., Boykin, C. M., Mendoza-Denton, R. (2018). Reducing negative affect and increasing rapport improve interracial mentorship outcomes. PLOS ONE. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0194123
Linkous, C. (2021). Poster title 24: Quest 2018 – wearing mentoring and mentee shoes at the same time. Wearing Mentoring and Mentee Shoes at the Same Time | AGEP National Research Conference. Retrieved from https://live.bu.edu/agep/sessions/linkous/.
Lopez, C. (2012). Disparities in STEM Education: Importance of Faculty-Student Mentoring Relationships. The Department Chair, 23(2), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1002/dch.20048
Mendez, S. L. (2021). Exploring the mentoring needs of engineering postdoctoral scholars of color: Is systematic change required in the postdoctoral training environment? 2021 ASEE Annual Conference. https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10303473
National Academy of Sciences; National Academy of Engineering; Policy and Global Affairs; Institute of Medicine; Committee on Science, n. (2010). Expanding underrepresented minority participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads |The National Academies Press. Retrieved from https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12984/expanding-underrepresented-minority-participation-americas-science-and-technology-talent-at.
Sanczyk, A., Douglas, N. D., Howell, C. R., & Merriweather, L. (2020, January 1). Experiences and perceptions on culturally responsive stem doctoral mentoring. Conference proceedings. Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10191557-experiences-perceptions-culturally-responsive-stem-doctoral-mentoring
Sanczyk, A., Merriweather, L. R., Douglas, N., Howell, C. D. (2020). The missing pieces of nurturing students' needs in doctoral stem mentoring relationships. Proceedings of the London International Conference on Education (LICE). Re. https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10221628.
Sanyal, N., Ward, K., Becerra, L. M. (2016). Culturally competent mentoring: The chair's role toward a culturally responsive culture in support of American Indian and Native Alaskan students. The Department Chair, 26(3), 24–26. https://doi.org/10.1002/dch.30067
Tull, R., Reed, A., Felder, P., Hester, S., Williams, D., Medina, Y., Lo, A., Aparaka, E., Ordonez, P. (2017). Hashtag #thinkbigdiversity: Social media hacking activities as hybridized mentoring mechanisms for underrepresented minorities in STEM. 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--28430
Windchief, S., Arouca, R., Brown, B. (2018). Developing an indigenous mentoring program for faculty mentoring American Indian and Alaska Native graduate students in STEM: A qualitative study. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 26(5), 503–523. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2018.1561001
Windchief, S., Brown, B. (2017). Conceptualizing a mentoring program for American Indian/Alaska Native students in the STEM fields: A review of the literature. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 25(3), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2017.1364815
Yadav, A., Seals, C. D., Sullivan, C. M., Lachney, M., Clark, Q., Dixon, K. G., Smith, M. J. (2020). The forgotten scholar: Underrepresented minority postdoc experiences in STEM fields. Educational Studies, 56(2), 160–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2019.1702552
Zhu, J., Cox, M. F., Evangelou, D., Lynch, C. (2015). Mentoring of underrepresented minority scholars in the reinvigorating engineering and changing history (REACH) program and AGEP program: Development of Interactive Learning Modules. ASEE PEER Document Repository. Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education. Retrieved from https://peer.asee.org/21688.
