BPE-Track 3: Engineering Academic Mentoring Collective

University Of Akron, Akron OH

Investigators

Abstract

This project will demystify the transition of individuals coming from all backgrounds into faculty positions. By emphasizing state of the art mentoring techniques and mentor training, the programs will impact the engineering educators and administrators (i.e., academia) to not only recruit a broad population of candidates but retain them in academia. Increased retention can have a long-term effect on engineering by equipping academia with new faculty to usher creative discoveries that not only improves education but increases public scientific engagement. Equipping participants with training in education and mentoring will result in better-prepared engineering educators, leading to better-equipped newly trained engineers entering the workforce. Through collaboration and development with institutional partners, this Hub will bolster the infrastructure and resources for engineering education. The proposed project will build upon the findings of the investigators' previous NSF supported project that focused on preparing PhD and postdoctoral students for academia. Our findings, as well as those found by other researchers, revealed that most new faculty members, whether they had postdoctoral training or not, were not adequately prepared to excel in academia. Additionally, new faculty need a supportive environment for mentoring and potential mentors would benefit from expansive training. The proposed project will provide (i) one year-long professional training to better prepare PhD students and postdoctoral participants for a successful career as engineering professors, (ii) training and resources for other universities to duplicate the PhD and postdoctoral training from the previously funded NSF project, (iii) inclusive mentoring, (iv) open source, effective, and culturally responsive mentor training for all interested university and community college engineering faculty, and (v) networking within the Hub. The proposed Hub will also establish links with projects recently funded within this and related programs. These networks will support capacity building for those working in mentoring, provide enhanced networking opportunities, and enable real- time sharing of knowledge and resources. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.