Workshops on the Mentoring and Professional Development of
Minority Students in Engineering

The Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network received support from the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2009 to conduct a two-day workshop focused on the mentoring and professional development of underrepresented minority Engineering students. The workshop’s goal was to increase the participants’ understanding of the roles that faculty and peer mentoring can play in enhancingthe academic and professional outcomes of undergraduate engineering majors who are members of underrepresented minority groups. 

The mentoring workshop for minority undergraduates was held on November 13-14, 2009 in Baltimore, MD. The participants included 18 faculty/staff advisors and 142 undergraduate engineering majors, representing 15 institutions with ABET-accredited engineering programs (seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities, five Hispanic-serving Institutions, one Other Minority Institution, and two Predominantly White Institutions). ...(Click here for more information)

Faculty advisors who accompanied the students to the November 2009 Workshop were invited to participate in a July 2010 follow-up workshop to provide updates on changes at the campuses related to undergraduate students in engineering since the November 2009 workshop; and to discuss the need/recommendation for a comparable workshop focused on the mentoring of doctoral students in engineering. (More information)

Both workshop reinforced the finding that mentoring and other support for engineering students at the graduate level is clearly needed to help address the severe shortage of engineers with doctoral degrees from underrepresented groups. To further address this need, fifteen insitutions with track records for producing significant numbers of engineering doctoral degree recipients from underrepresented minority groups were invited by QEM Network to each send a 3-person engineering faculty team to a May 2011 workshop focused on the mentoring and professional development of underrepresented minority graduate engineering students. The purpose of the workshop was to share best practices and strategies for advising underrepresented minority graduate engineering students on their academic and career development plans.

The workshop for engineering faculty took place on Friday-Saturday, May 13-14, 2011, at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel at the BWI Airport, Baltimore, MD. Faculty teams, consisting mainly of senior faculty at the associate or full professor level, from 14 institutions as well as a range of administrators, engineering faculty consultants, and STEM professional contributed to a rich discussion on a range of topics addressing the mentoring and professional development of graduate students. Workshop participants received handouts and other materials, including a Resource CD, on the various topics as well as information from NSF on "Identifying/Securing Resources to Support the Development of Students as Engineering Scholars" and NSF's Broadening Participation efforts.

Topics discussed during the workshops included:

• Modeling and Fostering Professional Behavior/Scholarly Conduct (including Ethics and Social Responsibility)
• Developing Effective Mentoring and Advisement Strategies to Support Underrepresented Engineering Graduate Students
• Preparing Doctoral Engineering Students and Mentoring Early Career Faculty for Careers in Academe
• Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Engineering
• Building Students' Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy
• Building Students’ Networking and Negotiating Skills
• The Importance of Cultural Competency in Broadening the Participation of Minority Students in STEM Fields
• Best Practices for the Retention and Degree Attainment of Engineering Graduate Students from Underrepresented Groups
• Exploring Career Pathways: Meeting Academe/Government/Industry Expectations
• Pedagogy for Engineering Education and Review of ABET’s Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC2000) Outcomes for Students
• Role of Student Support Services in Student Success
  
• Preparing Students to Meet Academic Expectations – Best Practices
  

The mentoring workshop was held on November 13-14, 2009 in Baltimore, MD. The participants included 18 faculty/staff advisors and 142 engineering majors, representing 15 institutions with ABET-accredited engineering programs (seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities, five Hispanic-serving Institutions, one Other Minority Institution, and two Predominantly White Institutions). The advisors were engineering faculty or staff with interest, experience, and success in mentoring undergraduate engineering students, particularly underrepresented minorities. The November 2009 workshop provided an opportunity for undergraduate students from fifteen institutions to meet and interact with peers from across the country with similar interests and aspirations. They completed Individual Mentoring and Academic/Career Plans (IMAPs); enhanced their personal and professional skill sets; and also met outstanding mentors and professionals in a range of careers with whom they discussed pathways to academic and professional success. A summary report on the Workshop proceedings is available at the QEM website (http://qemnetwork.qem.org/qemengmentoringrpt.pdf) for downloading and use by others.

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Participating Students from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez

July 2010 Follow-up Workshop AGENDA

July 2010 Workshop: Faculty advisors who accompanied the students to the November Workshop were invited to participate in a follow-up workshop on Monday, July 19, 2010, at the Hilton BWI Airport in Linthicum, MD. At this workshop, QEM staff: 1) received an update on what has happened on the participating campuses related to undergraduate students in engineering since the November 2009 workshop; and 2) provided an opportunity for participants to discuss the need/recommendation for a comparable workshop focused on the mentoring of doctoral students in engineering who are members of groups underrepresented in engineering. Supporting students at this level through the receipt of a doctoral degree in engineering is clearly needed to help address the severe shortage of engineers with doctoral degrees from underrepresented groups available to join the faculty at minority and non-minority serving institutions offering degrees in engineering. NSF program directors as well as engineering faculty consultants and several presenters from the November 2009 workshop participatde in the follow-up workshop.

A supplement to QEM’s BRIDGE grant was received to support a Spring 2011 workshop focused on the professional development of underrepresented doctoral engineering students for engineering faculty and administrators at selected institutions offering master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering and enrolling significant number of underrepresented minorities in these graduate programs. Three-person engineering faculty/administrators were invited from each institution. Offering a workshop focused on engineering faculty enabled QEM to follow-up on a major recommendation from: (1) the November 13-14, 2009 Mentoring Workshop for Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Engineering Students; and (2) the July 19, 2010 Follow-up Workshop to the November 2009 Undergraduate Engineering Workshop. Fifteen (15) institutions with engineering programs were represented at the November 2009 workshop by undergraduate underrepresented minority engineering majors and by faculty/staff members accompanying the students. Ten (10) of these institutions were represented at the July 19, 2010 follow-up workshop.

Agenda items for the proposed two-day workshop for faculty included the following:
(a) expectations/requirements for success in different career paths (academe, industry, government); (b) the critical transition point from master’s to doctoral degree programs in engineering; and (c) effective pedagogical strategies in engineering.

Workshops on Professional Development
of Minority Master's and Doctoral Engineering Students

The Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network has received support from the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Directorate for Engineering (ENG) to conduct the third in a series of workshops focused on the professional development of underrepresented minority students in engineering. The goals of the two-day November 2011 workshop are to: 1) provide master’s and doctoral engineering students from underrepresented minority groups with information, resources, and skills development opportunities to increase their success in graduate school and in transitioning to engineering careers in academe, government, or industry; and
(2) provide networking opportunities for student participants with each other as well as with engineering faculty/other professionals attending the workshop.

The first workshop in the series, conducted in November 2009 with ENG Directorate support, was on “Mentoring of Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Students in Engineering.” The workshop brought together 142 students and their faculty advisors from 15 institutions. The second workshop, conducted in May 2011 convened three-member engineering faculty/staff teams from the 14 institutions to be invited to the proposed third workshop in November 2011. Faculty/staff advisors from ten of the institutions participating in the first workshop, who met in July 2010 to discuss next steps, strongly recommended the second and third workshops. Institutional teams in the proposed third workshop will consist of seven master’s and doctoral underrepresented materials science and engineering students and the three-person faculty/advisor teams that participated in the May 2011 workshop, for a total of 14 ten-member institutional teams. Students on each team will include three master’s and four doctoral students, including, where possible, at least three female students. Each racial/ethnic underrepresented group in a participating institution’s graduate materials science or engineering program will be represented.

The November 2011 workshop plenary sessions and breakout groups will focus on the requirements for completing a master’s and/or doctoral degree in engineering or materials research; how to succeed in graduate school and secure support for graduate study; and the role and importance of research, publishing, conference attendance, mentoring, and networking. The workshop will examine requirements for success in academe, industry, and government and the critical transition from master’s to doctoral degree programs in the fields represented.

Intellectual Merit.The November 2011 workshop will be the capstone effort to identify and disseminate research findings, best practices, and promising/strategies for increasing the success of underrepresented minorities in engineering and will build on insights and recommendations from the first two workshops. QEM senior staff and consultants bring years of experience administering projects, with support from NSF and NASA programs, to broaden participation of underrepresented minorities in science and engineering.

Broader Impacts.The institutions to be invited to the workshop enrolled, in 2009, over 1,450 (1,473) minority students who were pursuing graduate engineering degrees full-time. The participating students, future professionals from across the country with similar interests and aspirations, will meet and interact. A summary report will be prepared that will be widely disseminated to other institutions with graduate programs in engineering and materials research. An article will be prepared and submitted to education-focused journals to further disseminate the findings. These efforts will have a direct impact on underrepresented minorities who receive advanced engineering and materials science degrees in the future.

If you would like more information, please contact Shirley McBay, Project Director, via email at smmcbay1@qem.org or via telephone  at 202/659-1818.