E-mentoring: A longitudinal approach to mentoring relationships for women pursuing technical careers

Journal of Engineering Education, Jul 2000 by Wadia-Fascetti, Sara, Leventman, Paula G

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the number of formal mentoring programs has increased dramatically. Mentoring programs that target individuals in underrepresented groups or groups of individuals who, statistically, are not likely to succeed are especially effective. These programs are effective because the mentors provide the proteges with a common community and help them anticipate future decisions. The purpose of this paper is to present an electronic mentoring (E-Mentoring) program designed and established at Northeastem University to provide long-term mentoring experiences for pre-college and college female engineering students. Participants from four different age groups join E-Mentor clubs and develop relationships through regular e-mail communication. Networking socials, scheduled 3-4 times a year, provide the participants an opportunity to interact "face-to-face." The E-Mentoring program began as a pilot program in the Fall of 1996 within the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and has grown to a college-wide program with approximately 250 participants in the Spring of 1999.

I. INTRODUCTION

Mentoring is a relationship where individuals work with each other to foster growth, goal achievement, and self-confidence. Mentoring programs are effective because the mentors provide the proteges with a common community and help them anticipate future decisions.1-3 Mentoring programs are particularly important for women in engineering because their under-representation is apt to result in exclusion from naturally occurring mentoring relationships.2,4,5 Participants in adult/adolescent role model relationships perceive mentoring as valuable when relationships are long-term, trust can develop, and differences are negotiated.6 A national study of 388 women who have been mentors found that 302 were themselves proteges of other mentors.7 Mentoring has been adopted as the key strategy for recruiting and retaining minority engineers to colleges and then into industrial careers.8 MentorNet links women students majoring in science and engineering with professionals across the country via e-mail.9 There is a marked increase in female engineering enrollments from 9.7% in 1980 to 19.4% in 1996.(10,11) In 1975, women represented 11.5% of the engineering majors and 2% of the BS degrees. These percentages grew to 19% and 17% in 1995. It is significant that while the number of students choosing engineering majors decreased 19% between 1990 and 1996, the number of women in these majors increased 11.5% percent during the same years.12 Despite these gains, women remain under-represented in university level science, engineering and math (SEM) programs, and especially in the engineering workforce where the percentage of females was 5.8% in 1983" and only 8.5% in 1996.(14)

The term "pipeline" is used to describe a group or groups of students who are preparing for careers in targeted fields. These students may come from several different age groups, and the targeted fields are the engineering professions. Since attrition is expected, there is a motivation to prepare larger groups of students for the pipeline to engineering careers. The data presented here show that the number of women in the engineering workforce is increasing at a much slower rate than the increase observed at the university level. This can be explained by the disproportionate male to female ratio among senior engineers in industry. Larger numbers of women are graduating than in previous years, however the increase in numbers does not make a significant impact on the overall male to female ratio in industry. Furthermore, women leave the workforce because they are not always prepared for the workforce that traditionally has institutional barriers that limit the success ofwomen.15 Mentoring can have a direct impact on the choices that young women make by helping them to understand what to expect in the professional environment and by serving as a catalyst to increase the percentage of women choosing engineering majors and careers.

The quality of any given mentor/mentee relationship will vary depending on the personalities and experiences of the individuals involved. However, all such relationships have one thing in common: a protege with goals and aspirations and a mentor who wants to help the protege achieve these goals. A literature review yielded the following descriptions of mentor/mentee relationships:

"A mentor guides a protege in the direction which will best assist the protege in learning."16

"Mentoring consists of a unique and personal relationship between two people, with an effective mentor providing the mentee with a true sense of what it feels like to be in her position."17

"Mentoring is defined as offering practical academic help, explaining the customs, secrets, and myths of the profession; and, sometimes, offering emotional support."18 "Mentoring provides career benefits as well as psychological benefits for both mentors and their students, and can facilitate a working environment that encourages individual growth."1