A Planning Grant to Support Intergenerational Mentoring Among African American Women in the Engineering Academy

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Engineering affects the health and vitality of a nation unlike any other profession, and the future of engineering and the global competitiveness of the U.S. is inextricably connected to broadening the participation of underrepresented groups at all highest levels of society. African American women are among the least represented among engineering faculty, and a demographic that faces unique challenges that affect their retention in the academy. The outcomes of this project will advance our understanding of the inhibitors and promotors of success among African American women among the engineering faculty across all ranks. Funding from this project will be used to host a series of activities for African American women, engineering faculty, some of which include: a half-day workshop held in conjunction with the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE); a research study to validate and elucidate the current literature on the challenges, obstacles and facilitators of success in light of those that African American women, engineering faculty face on a daily basis; and a proposal for a subsequent two-day workshop. The workshop will provide an opportunity for one of the most underrepresented populations of engineering faculty to come together in a safe space to: discuss common challenges they experience; reflect and brainstorm strategies to aid in their success; launch a national network among African American women faculty to encourage and support their advancement in the academy and into national engineering leadership positions; and develop a mentoring network among colleagues with similar personal experiences and interests. The formation of a national network will provide a context of mentoring, role modeling, and other forms of psychosocial support that contribute to retention of underrepresented engineering faculty?something that is necessary for building the diverse technical workforce that maintains our global competitiveness and national prosperity.Broadening participation of underrepresented groups in engineering across higher education is a national priority, and the success of African American women faculty in engineering programs is essential in making progress in this area of interest. While existing literature is replete with the unique challenges to retention that this demographic faces across academic ranks, scholarship on intergenerational mentoring provides a basis for this proposed workshop that focuses on issues of retention and success among African American women engineering faculty across academic ranks. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, this study will use qualitative and quantitative evidence to fully understand individual factors, environmental factors, institutional practices, procedures, and policies may adversely affect the persistence of African American women, engineering faculty. As a result of this project, workshop and subsequent research we will be armed with the necessary information to develop a consortium for African American women faculty in engineering, and a blueprint for creating an education research agenda focused on broadening participation and ensuring successful advancement of African American women faculty in engineering. This study will serve as the basis for a larger follow-up study. The insights from this study will advance multiple bodies of work simultaneously.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.