Study Shows MentorNet Helps Women of Color Stay the Course in School
Women of color report even higher degrees of satisfaction with MentorNet's One-on-One program than their white counterparts, and are more likely to say that their mentor was a top motivator for staying in school and continuing studies in their chosen field, according to a new MentorNet study.
The study, "E-Mentoring for Women of Color in Engineering and Science," analyzes responses to MentorNet's annual evaluations and participant data from the past two academic years. While MentorNet has regularly collected data on participant ethnicity, this is the first sample with statistically significant numbers of Latino, African American, and Asian American participants. The study looked at women protégés and mentors of both sexes.
African American and Latina students report the highest degree of satisfaction with their mentoring experience, and women of color said their MentorNet experience helped them stay the course.
"My mentor let me know things were going to get hard," wrote one African American student. "I thought I was going to have to change my major, but thanks to her encouraging words I decided to try a little harder instead of giving up."
Support Is Key to Success in Sciences
Mentoring and other supports are a key component of success for women of color in the sciences, says Anne MacLachlan, senior researcher at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. MacLachlan, whose work focuses on issues of diversity in higher education, notes that pressures and fear of failure are high for all graduate students, but especially for people of color and those who have done undergraduate work at minority-serving institutions and then enter predominantly white universities.
"It's critical, especially for first-generation students," says MacLachlan, who is finishing a study of 158 students of color who completed Ph.D.'s from 1980 to 1990 that considers how and why this group succeeded and whether their careers fulfilled their ambitions. "If [students of color] haven't gotten support, I think they're just gone; they drop out," she says. "It's clear that there needs to be at least one person to help [a student] through graduate school."
MentorNet's findings show students aren't the only ones reaping benefits: Mentors of color report getting more out of mentoring than their white counterparts. As with students, a high percentage of those surveyed—Latinas and African Americans especially—said their mentoring work renewed their commitment to their field. Another noticeable difference: 38 percent of Latino and 40 percent of Asian American mentors said mentoring increased their self-confidence, compared to 25 percent of all others.
This corresponds with MacLachlan's observations: many of the women of color she studied are now "heavily involved in fostering the next generation," she notes. "And many chose, even with their top-flight Ph.D.'s, to go to non-research schools to bring science to those kids."
Wanted: Mentors of Color
The MentorNet study also highlighted the fact that most protégés of color—particularly African Americans—would prefer a mentor of their own ethnic background and say they want to be able to discuss issues of race and ethnicity with their mentor.
Yet this need is largely unmet: as in "real world" scientific and engineering arenas, people of color are underrepresented among MentorNet mentors, so there are relatively few same-race matches. Moreover, most white mentors said issues of race and ethnicity are what they are least comfortable addressing with protégés.
Nonetheless, protégés of color report high levels of satisfaction regardless of their mentor's ethnicity. This may be due in part to the nature of MentorNet relationships, which are conducted via email, says Carol Muller, MentorNet's CEO and president. The structure strips away the visual cues that may reinforce racial stereotypes and helps to focus relationships on shared characteristics rather than superficial traits.
The bottom line is the proof that MentorNet benefits all participants, says Muller. "It's very important to us that the protégés report very satisfying and productive relationships regardless of cross-ethnic pairings," she says. "We're always looking for ways to do things better, but [the study] shows that the MentorNet One-on-One program is serving women of color well."
You can find the complete study, which was funded by a grant from the Engineering Information Foundation, as well as other MentorNet research and program evaluations, at http://www.mentornet.net/documents/about/results/evaluation/.