Peer leadership and mentoring in engineering: A potential path for changing organizational culture to positively impact diversity, equity and inclusion

Abstract

In Fall 2017, the College of Engineering implemented an “all-in” mentoring program, called the Engineer-to-Engineer Network, linking first-year students with an upper-level engineering student peer mentor. A sequence of two, one-credit seminar courses are under development to provide foundational support for the network. In the spring, Special Topics in Mentoring will provide training for the upper-level engineering peers on how to be an effective mentor and what to look for in a mentoring relationship for themselves. Engineer-peers enrolled in the class will develop strategies for engaging the first-year student cohort entering the subsequent fall. Peer Leadership in Engineering will be offered each fall to support implementation of the Engineer-to-Engineer Network while also taking a deeper dive into topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion, providing peer-engineers insight on how to work effectively with a wide range of individuals. Peer Leadership in Engineering will also be utilized as a “sandbox” in which to test methodologies for discussing equity and inclusion issues with engineering students. The goal is to subsequently implement effective tools within core departmental seminar courses at the first-year through senior level and/or through evening workshops. Our hypothesis is that a long-term positive shift in the culture of the College, making it more welcoming and supportive of all, will result from working closely with a core group of undergraduate leaders each year to welcome all new students and provide rich extra-curricular opportunities for students across levels and departments to interact. A more welcoming climate will in turn support the College's efforts to increase the number of women and students of color, while simultaneously improving persistence and graduation rates. Background information on the motivation for these efforts, further details, and preliminary findings of this work in progress are presented.