MentorNet Aims to Increase Minority Representation
Initiative expands efforts to serve underrepresented groups and signs a new partner
MentorNet has begun a strategic initiative to help underrepresented minorities persist and
succeed in engineering and science, building on and expanding its past work in fostering diversity.
"The timing is right for us to actively reach out to people of color—men as well as women-who
are underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields," says Carol Muller, MentorNet CEO and
president. "We've always served minority women in our programs and we work to be inclusive;
now we have the momentum and track record, and are working to build the resources, to better
reach marginalized groups."
Underrepresentation Shows Need for Mentoring
Like women, many ethnic minorities participate in STEM fields in numbers far below their
proportion of the general population. According to the National Science Foundation Indicators
2000 report, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans constitute 24 percent of the total
workforce but just 7 percent of the science and engineering workforce.
Academic statistics are equally telling. In 2001, for example, African Americans earned 8.8
percent of all bachelor's degrees in the United States but only 5.3 percent of engineering
and 6 percent of physical science degrees. Hispanics, who earned 7.4 percent of all bachelor's
degrees, received less than 6 percent of degrees in the physical sciences, computer sciences,
and mathematics. Native Americans earned 0.7 percent of all bachelor's degrees but just 0.5
percent of degrees in math and engineering. In graduate studies, the percentages are even lower.
MentorNet is in a unique position to work with underrepresented groups to increase the likelihood
of their completing science and engineering degrees and go on to successful careers. Not only has
mentoring been shown to greatly improve the chances for minorities and women to succeed and persist,
but MentorNet's Women of Color evaluation study of its One-on-One program shows that women of color
particularly benefit from their mentoring relationships, with Latinas and African Americans reporting
the highest satisfaction.
Partnering with Others Is Key
With that in mind, MentorNet is placing a priority over the next several years on increasing its
ability to foster diversity in engineering and science. Building partnerships with organizations
that have congruent missions and complementary goals and capabilities is a key part of this effort.
The Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is the first
to partner with MentorNet under this initiative. The organization encourages Chicano/Latino and
Native American students to pursue graduate education and obtain the advanced degrees necessary
for science research, leadership, and teaching careers. Founded in 1973, SACNAS received the 2004
Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring; an annual
national conference and workshops and mentoring of K–12 educators are among its programs.
SACNAS members will be able to take advantage of MentorNet's One-on-One mentoring programs,
and MentorNet members can get involved with SACNAS programs and conferences. MentorNet will
present the workshop "Success Through Mentoring" at the SACNAS national conference in September.
The daylong program will look at state-of-the-art mentoring practices and program implementation,
with a focus on retention of underrepresented minorities, and feature presentations by a lineup of
distinguished practitioners and researchers. See more details.
Working Together Helps Everyone Succeed
"I'm excited about this partnership on a number of levels," says Muller. "It's a way to build
greater involvement across the board. We can supply the structure to provide their members with
professional and student e-mentoring, while their communications infrastructure gives us the
ability to reach more Latinos and Native Americans."
Muller hopes the partnership will also help provide more mentors of color for protégés who want
them; there's great demand for minority mentors but there have always been too few to match with
protégé preferences.
"We now know that the mentoring experiences of women of color through MentorNet have been
overwhelmingly positive, and increasing numbers of men of color are participating in our
programs," she says. "Plus, we share many common goals with organizations that serve minorities,
so partnerships are a natural way to help everyone succeed."
Other organizations interested in partnering with MentorNet are encouraged to
contact info@mentornet.net for further
discussion and review partnership structure information on the web site at http://www.MentorNet.net/partners/.
For more information about SACNAS, go to http://www.sacnas.org/.
MentorNet's 2004 evaluation study of women of color in its One-on-One programs (PDF)
For recent statistics, check out the National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources
Statistics report Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering:
2004 at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/.