Marketing engineering through Open Mentoring®- A Web-based pilot program

Abstract

Paper Overview This paper provides an overview of the Open Mentoring® program in the College of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), which evolved from collaborative efforts between Triple Creek Associates, Inc. and College of Engineering programs such as the Women in Engineering Program (WEP) and the Equal Opportunity in Engineering (EOE) Program. Research on Open Mentoring® and Web-based mentoring will be shared. In addition, marketing strategies employed to engage female and minority engineering students and to showcase a multitude of engineering career paths will be discussed. An overview of pilot program activity, including mentoring topics and participant demographics, will be provided. Background The WEP and EOE Programs at UT Austin are in the second year of developing, managing and expanding a College-wide, Web-based, easy-to-use mentoring tool called Open Mentoring®, licensed from Triple Creek Associates, Inc. By marketing engineering options and showcasing the career paths of College of Engineering alumni through Open Mentoring®, WEP and EOE strive to increase student knowledge about career planning, as well as increase the retention and graduation rates of participating female and minority engineering students. The College of Engineering at UT Austin prepares students to enter the workplace with competence and confidence by providing them with opportunities such as Open Mentoring® to develop into independent, creative professional engineers. The Web-based Open Mentoring® process guides a student through: assessing her/his development needs, finding a suitable mentor from a dynamic database of College alumni, and creating a mentoring agreement to initiate and monitor the mentoring relationship. The process is mentee-driven; mentees initiate contact with mentors and the negotiation of the mentoring relationship. WEP and EOE promote the College's Open Mentoring® program through information sessions, electronic communications and networking events. Organizations ' Backgrounds WEP connects pre-college and college students to opportunities and careers in engineering and introduces them to mentors, peers and resources in the field. Established in 1992, the mission of WEP is to increase the overall percentage of women in the College of Engineering at UT Austin. Women currently comprise 22 percent of the UT Austin engineering student body. The EOE Program was established at UT Austin in 1970 to promote the recruitment, retention and academic development of students from underrepresented ethnic groups interested in pursuing engineering careers. Since that time, EOE has expanded its goals and now seeks to increase the diversity of its student body by supporting students who have backgrounds or experiences that will contribute to the overall diversity of the College of Engineering. Underrepresented ethnic groups currently comprise 17 percent of the UT Austin engineering student body. Triple Creek Associates, Inc. is the vendor chosen to partner with the College of Engineering to pilot the Web-based mentoring program. Triple Creek's mission is to support clients with the technology and expertise to build relationships, leverage knowledge, and create inclusive environments for the purpose of improved individual and organizational success. They provided the College of Engineering with a customized version of Open Mentoring® and direct end user support. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2006.