Intersectional approach to inclusive mentorship of women in engineering disciplines

Jennifer S. Brown; Marshal Fasika Rice; Karen A High

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Conference: 2024 South East Section Meeting
Location: Marietta, Georgia
Publication Date: March 10, 2024
Start Date: March 10, 2024
End Date: March 12, 2024
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45540
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45540
Download Count: 26

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Paper Authors

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Jennifer S. Brown Clemson University orcid.org/0000-0002-3712-8089

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Jennifer Brown earned her PhD in Engineering and Science Education from Clemson University in 2023. Her technical background is a Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University in 2020 with a concentration in advanced manufacturing and design. Her primary research foci include graduate student and faculty development, graduate well-being, intersectional approaches in qualitative research, and mentorship of women in STEM.

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Marshal Fasika Rice Clemson University

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Karen A High Clemson University

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Dr. Karen High holds an academic appointment in the Engineering Science and Education department and joint appointments in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department as well as the Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences department. Prior

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Abstract

Despite women now comprising just over 25% of the engineering doctorate degrees awarded annually in the United States, women remain significantly underrepresented in both academia and industry, posing a considerable challenge for supporting the mentorship for women doctoral students in engineering. Positive mentoring experiences are crucial for retaining and advancing those who hold marginalized identities in STEM as it contributes to their persistence in their field in a variety of ways. Researchers have emphasized the mutual benefits when graduate students can connect with mentors who share their values and lived experiences; however, the severe underrepresentation of women contributes to the often-disproportionate burden of mentorship placed on women faculty and faculty with other marginalized identities. Therefore, the intended aim of this work is to inform more inclusive mentoring strategies, expanding access to mentorship in engineering that is responsive to women’s needs. This work used an asset-based case study approach with semi-structured interviews to explore existing, strongly positive mentorships between doctoral candidates in engineering disciplines who identify as women and their most influential mentors. The goal of the work was to address two research questions: 1) What does effective, inclusive graduate mentorship look like for women doctoral candidates in engineering, applying an intersectional lens? 2) How does this mentorship affect the way they navigated the dissertation process? Fourteen total participants were recruited for this study, representing a total of seven mentoring pairs. Mentors were not limited by gender, and the study focused primarily on the mentoring that took place during the mentee’s doctoral journey. Grounded in Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, this paper presents results of the collective case analysis of the resistant and aspirational capital from the larger study and offers suggestions for applying these findings to improve current mentoring and advising practices for women graduate students in engineering disciplines who hold additional marginalized identities, such as BIPOC, neurodivergent, and first-generation college students.

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Brown, J. S., & Rice, M. F., & High, K. A. (2024, March), Intersectional approach to inclusive mentorship of women in engineering disciplines Paper presented at 2024 South East Section Meeting, Marietta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--45540

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Despite women now comprising just over 25% of the engineering doctorate degrees awarded annually in the United States, women remain significantly underrepresented in both academia and industry, posing a considerable challenge for supporting the mentorship for women doctoral students in engineering. Positive mentoring experiences are crucial for retaining and advancing those who hold marginalized identities in STEM as it contributes to their persistence in their field in a variety of ways. Researchers have emphasized the mutual benefits when graduate students can connect with mentors who share their values and lived experiences; however, the severe underrepresentation of women contributes to the often-disproportionate burden of mentorship placed on women faculty and faculty with other marginalized identities. 
Therefore, the intended aim of this work is to inform more inclusive mentoring strategies, expanding access to mentorship in engineering that is responsive to women’s needs. This work used an asset-based case study approach with semi-structured interviews to explore existing, strongly positive mentorships between doctoral candidates in engineering disciplines who identify as women and their most influential mentors. The goal of the work was to address two research questions: 1) What does effective, inclusive graduate mentorship look like for women doctoral candidates in engineering, applying an intersectional lens? 2) How does this mentorship affect the way they navigated the dissertation process? 
Fourteen total participants were recruited for this study, representing a total of seven mentoring pairs. Mentors were not limited by gender, and the study focused primarily on the mentoring that took place during the mentee’s doctoral journey. Grounded in Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, this paper presents results of the collective case analysis of the resistant and aspirational capital from the larger study and offers suggestions for applying these findings to improve current mentoring and advising practices for women graduate students in engineering disciplines who hold additional marginalized identities, such as BIPOC, neurodivergent, and first-generation college students.  
AU  - Jennifer S. Brown
AU  - Marshal Fasika Rice
AU  - Karen A High
CY  - Marietta, Georgia
DA  - 2024/03/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Intersectional approach to inclusive mentorship of women in engineering disciplines
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/45540
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--45540
ER  -