Mentoring and Institutional Transformation: A Formalized Mentoring for STEM Faculty

Transcription

1 Mentoring and Institutional Transformation: A Formalized Mentoring for STEM Faculty Tracy M. Sterling, Lisa M. Frehill, Pamela Hunt, and Cecily Jeser-Cannavale New Mexico State University ADVANCE PI Meeting Arlington, VA May 18-19, 2006

2 Gendered Organizations Acker 1992, Britton 2000 Work is gendered simultaneously within the context of occupations and organizations. Structural composition of fields Cultural workplace practices and beliefs Some characteristics of the male gendered academic STEM environment Competition (Carolyn, female mentor, Charles, male mentor) Weed out processes (Charles, male mentor) Belief in heroic, lone scientist (Juan, male mentor, Amy, female mentor / mentee) At NMSU: One deep in specialties Only weak people need mentoring (Sharon, female mentee; Chris, female mentor) ADVANCE PI Meeting Arlington, VA May 18-19, 2006

3 Mentoring as a Key Transformative Strategy at NMSU Mentoring encourages the development of social ties It doesn t look like a gender-based approach Kanter 1977: warns us to avoid boundary heightening Relationships nurturing vs. competitive ADVANCE PI Meeting Arlington, VA May 18-19, 2006

4 Programmatic Practices Make mentoring normative Practice: paired ALL new STEM faculty with mentors outside their department. Invite senior faculty and administrators to participate Incorporated mentoring into leadership development programming Encourage interactions Practice: pairs complete agreements Practice: facilitated group interactions luncheons, assigned seating, table topics not always with speaker mixers, dinners, picnics, open houses Training: mentors Share best practices and hints Increases connections among people with a positive orientation to mentoring Encourage non-hierarchical practices Gender and ethnic equity issues ADVANCE PI Meeting Arlington, VA May 18-19, 2006

5 Evaluation Methods Annual mentoring surveys Workshop evaluations Employee Climate Survey results for mentoring program participants versus non-participants Qualitative interview project ADVANCE PI Meeting Arlington, VA May 18-19, 2006

6 Annual Mentoring Surveys A 10-question survey Paper and Pencil Sent out every fall Current and prospective participants Purpose Committee uses for matching mentors and mentees Indicates expectations of the program General participant information Time in department Next promotion Year eligible for tenure Year received tenure 111 surveys analyzed 55 mentees 56 mentors ADVANCE PI Meeting Arlington, VA May 18-19, 2006

7 Mentee s Expectations of Mentoring Program: Annual Mentoring Surveys Guidance and advice (38%) Networking (18%) Research Grant writing and collaborations (11%)

8 What I have Received from the Mentoring Program Mentees: Annual Mentoring Surveys As an untenured junior faculty, I appreciated the network of both tenured and untenured faculty that results from the mentoring program. Discussions with my own mentor have helped me plan and prioritize my research and teaching activities. However, through the program s group activities I have developed relationships with other faculty who share a common interest and circumstance, so of whom I have contacted specifically (outside organized events) to discuss issues concerning success as a faculty member at NMSU. (Female) This mentoring program has increased considerably my opportunities for networking with other female faculty at NMSU. (Female) I had a very good mentor who knows what I need and gave me help for my first year as a professor. Many thanks for this program. (Male)

9 Mentor s Expectations of Mentoring Program: Annual Mentoring Surveys To help and/or share experiences with younger faculty (23%) Satisfaction with helping younger faculty (14%) Networking (9%) Gain a broader perspective of NMSU (9%)

10 Analysis of Workshop Evaluations Process: Short evaluations distributed to workshop participants Guide mentoring program activities: continuous improvement. Results: Routinely, more than 90% of respondents report that they are satisfied with the program. Participants have learned that frank answers help improve the program and trust the program to be responsive to their needs.

11 Employee Climate Survey (ECS) Methods First ECS Survey at NMSU ADVANCE substantial role Survey planning & technical development Analyzing data as a service to the institution Will be conducted every 3 years w/ future analysis by IR Committee chaired by Vice President of Human & Physical Resources (i.e., survey is institutionalized) Paper and pencil survey sent out November 2004 by Institutional Research, Planning, and Outcomes Assessment Office 115 questions 13 opportunities for open-ended comments

12 ECS Faculty Analysis Tenured and tenure-track faculty located at NMSU s Main Campus in Las Cruces, NM 328 respondents (51.7% response rate) Variables added to ECS dataset by ADVANCE: Participation in ADVANCE programming (e.g., P & T workshops open to faculty from entire university) Participation in ADVANCE mentoring program Items of interest 10-item scale about the P & T process 14 items about professional development at NMSU

13 Evidence of Mentoring Success ECS: Participants versus Non-Participants Faculty responses to: "Please indicate your level of agreement with: NMSU has a good process for professional development of employees." 80.0% 70.0% 68.3% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 34.4% 24.4% 30.1% 35.5% Non-Participant Participant 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 7.3% Agree Neutral Disagree Non-Participant = 186 and Participant = 41 - Participants were less likely than non-participants to agree.

14 Evidence of Mentoring Success ECS: Participants versus Non-Participants Percent satisfied with "How satisfied are you personally with the following: Opportunities to interact with others in your field or area" 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 73.0% 54.5% 60.9% 63.2% 71.2% 56.4% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% Males Females 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Non-Participant Participant Overall Non-participant male = 126 Non-Participant female = 66 Participant male = 23 and Participant female = 42 - Gender differences for faculty overall - Gender differences for non-participants - No gender differences for participants

15 Satisfaction with Processes at NMSU (ECS) Factor analysis scale: professional development processes (alpha = 0.747): (All items 5-point Likert with middle neutral) Your working relationship with other employees. NMSU has a good process for professional develop of employees. People from different departments often work cooperatively together to achieve a common goal. NMSU has a good process for orienting employees. I receive the necessary training to do high quality work. Opportunities to interact with other in your field or area.

16 Satisfaction with Processes at NMSU Non-Participants Results from the ECS Participants were more satisfied with processes at NMSU than nonparticipants. Participants n Mean Standard Deviation T-Test Significance Male participants were more satisfied with the processes at NMSU than male non-participants. Females were equally satisfied whether they participated in our mentoring program or not. n Mean Standard Deviation T-Test Significance Males Participants Non-Participants Females Participants Non-Participants

17 Interviews - Qualitative Assessment Semi-structured interviews using a modified version of Gibson s (2004) instrument n = 24 STEM ADVANCE Mentoring Program participants (80 participants total at time of interviews) Conducted 2004 Transcribed in full: 4 interviews were partial transcription and notes 1 interviewee refused to be recorded so notes only No refusals Average: 51 minutes

18 Purposive Sampling At least one person per cell from each of the three ADVANCE-targeted colleges Mentor Mentee/ Protégé Females Chris n = 5 Jill Carolyn Amy Michelle Sharon n = 7 Cheryl Beth Monica (partial transcription & notes) Carmen Jennifer (notes w/ follow-up transcribed interview) Daisy Males Juan n = 7 Harry John Jim Charles Robert (no tape, notes only) Michael Max n = 5 Miguel Joe Richard (partial transcription & notes) Hanson (notes only)

19 Themes from Interviews Networking Introductions mentor introduced mentee Connections - mentor made connections with mentee s department / college Beyond mentor / mentee contacts Research collaborations Nurturance Someone cares about me Responsibility for another person s success Comfort / stress management Trust and safety Mentors education/learning Mentors gain knowledge that they bring back to their home department A broader view of the university

20 Example - Nurturing A luncheon speaker pointed out the high cost associated with losing faculty: every negative tenure decision costs the university quite dearly, I think I never realized that, so there s every expectation that people will succeed. It s not like our group where there s, we expect to dump 80 percent of the people who start out here! (Charles, male mentor, very traditional scientist) ADVANCE PI Meeting Arlington, VA May 18-19, 2006

21 Example Mentor Education and Institutional Transformation We ve noticed through our evaluations of these workshops that they have changed, that they have seen how they [mentors] should help this person [mentee]. They re learning a lot too, it s kind of dry, but bottom line is, we all have to understand what our faculty procedures and policy manual says and what the guidelines are for promotion and tenure and that was an eye opener for mentors to understand other colleges and other departments policies on promotion and tenure and that made them go back to their s and see how they compared or didn t compare. (Jill, female mentor)

22 Mentoring Interviews Responses to the Question: What do you like best about the ADVANCE mentoring program? Formal Organization (11 respondents) Meeting Mentor / Mentee (6 respondents) Whole Program (3 respondents)

23 Mentoring Interviews Responses to the Question: How would you improve the ADVANCE mentoring program? Discussion about experiences mentors and mentees share what has helped them (6 respondents) Matching of mentees with mentor (4 respondents) Departmental mentoring (2 respondents) Solicit participants to encourage more male participants (2 respondents) More follow-up with mentors more accountability (2 respondents)

24 Conclusions / Lessons 3 key points Multiple data sets qualitative & quantitative -- analyzed to assess our mentoring program impact on STEM faculty at NMSU All sources consistent: program as working towards goals. We are reducing the impact of a gendered organization and becoming a more supportive environment for STEM faculty. Future: we have been carefully studying cohorts and will continue to do so as faculty recruited during ADVANCE move through the P&T process.

25 Acknowledgements This presentation was supported by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE: Institutional Transformation Program, NSF # The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the National Science Foundation.