RATIONALE
Obviously, we all want highly
qualified faculty in technology. They are essential in the effective preparation
of students to enter and advance in the technology professions.
The term diversity is often
defined using the word variety. It may encompass a wide range of types of
diversity including, but not limited to,
ethnicity, age, or gender. Gerth and Weiner (1994) presented an interesting view to consider:
Diversity is about how "us" and
"them" are defined, how "we" separate
ourselves from others and how such distinctions impact on human life. The
differences are manifoldindeed, they include all the possible groupings of individuals
by characteristics they share or do not share. At its core the discussion of diversity
in higher education calls upon us to revisit questions about the skills and
sensitivities needed for constructive relations
among people who are different, the principles that animate a just and democratic
society, and the variety of knowledge that is important for scholars both to seek and
to teach. The gift that diversity gives is the insistent invitation to ask hard
questions about what we mean by education, how we teach, which people should
be included as students and teachers, and what we are accomplishing in our
colleges and universities. If we let it, diversity
can renew our campuses. (p. xi)
Professionals involved in
industrial and technology education must be concerned about quality and diversity
as they relate to (a) the nature and needs of our students,
(b) the nature of the workforce into which our students
will be entering and developing, and (c) the makeup of our profession and
department faculties.
SUCCESSFUL MENTORING STRATEGIES
A mentor serves as a trusted
counselor, advisor, role model, and teacher. He or she is paired with a mentee
for purposes of professional and personal development.
Mentoring strategies play
important roles in the development of a highly qualified and diverse industrial and
technology education faculty. They may assist in the identification of
qualified and qualifiable faculty; they may assist with access into, and promotion
within, all areas of industrial and technology education professions; and they
assist in the development of much-needed role models. Mentoring programs
and the institutionalizing of an atmosphere conducive to mentoring and
mutual support impact both majority and underrepresented populations
among students, potential students, faculty, potential faculty, the community,
and society. They benefit individuals, the institution, and the profession.
Informal Strategies
A valuable strategy for identifying
a potential faculty member is broad awareness. Broad awareness is a
simple yet complex informal strategy that requires prospective mentors to be
alert to, and monitor, professional activities of others. Broad awareness can best
be explained by the following example:
While at a local conference
planning committee session, a department chair observes that a new faculty member
is actively participating in the discourse around the table. This person
lacks experience in conference planning and many of her comments may not be
well focused. But the chair detects a sincere desire on her part to contribute.
In subsequent professional meetings and symposia throughout the state, this
chair notices this young faculty
person's participation.
This example has classic
characteristics of a potential young leader who could develop into a valuable
faculty member. The identification and informal monitoring of young
professionals who exhibit early signs of
leadership and professionalism, however undeveloped, are key first steps towards
the identification of potentially qualifiable and diverse faculty.
Broad awareness requires
mentors to not read into the actions of undeveloped talent, but rather look to see
the positive potential of these behaviors. A second step of this process occurs
following identification. This step requires the entry of an informal mentor
role model called the quiet advocate. The quiet advocate begins the nurturing
process of a potential mentee, being guided by four actions: expose, include,
inform, and correct. The quiet advocate exposes strengths and contributions
by including the mentee in success or win-win activities. These activities
should represent opportunities for the mentee to gradually gain confidence,
recognition, and responsibility. During this period the quiet advocate
monitors, assists, and provides constructive guidance to the mentee.
An important strategy for the developmental success of
the mentee is for the quiet advocate to guard against the mentee entering into
perilous situations and overload conditions.
This period of quiet advocacy
and informal development could extend from one to five years or more. In
order to keep the goal directed on the potential development of a faculty
member, the quiet advocate must keep the mentee focused on completing a terminal
degree (if one has not been achieved) suitable for the faculty appointment
and/or meeting the necessary requirements for tenure and promotion. The
quiet advocate is really an informal champion of the mentee. As time passes,
the role of quiet advocate should evolve into a recognized mentor. To
strengthen this informal mentor-mentee relationship, mentors may invite mentees to collaborate on research projects,
co-author scholarly works and professional presentations, and co-chair and
assist in professional activities. They may also provide important advice on
selection of teaching assignments, professional activities, and other related activities.
Formal Strategies
Wunsch (1994a, 1994b) advocated formal mentoring programs,
with planned structure aimed to assure that mentoring occurs in a systematic
and productive way. Many universities and colleges have established some
structured, institutionalized programs that may be valuable. They may be
accessed to fully meet the needs or utilized as components of a new program.
Academic departments in technology can also create or capitalize
on existing formal mentoring programs. Most formal programs are designed
to develop qualifiable faculty candidates or assist junior faculty in meeting
the requirements for retention, tenure, and promotion.
Formal institutionalized
programs designed to assist in the development of qualifiable faculty candidates
generally are categorized into mentoring, scholarship,
fellowship/assistantship, and incentive loan programs.
These programs usually require that a faculty mentor or advisor be assigned to
each participant for purposes of program and professional guidance. The mentors
in these formal programs are required to document the deliverables and
guidance they will render to the mentee. These deliverables include regular
advisement meetings, research assistance, and professional development
activities in which they will jointly participate.
From the perspective of the
department, these formal mentoring strategies facilitate direct involvement of
senior faculty in the educational and professional development of potential
and/or junior faculty. The valuable insight that departments gain into the potential
and characteristics of a prospective faculty member are unparalleled.
The "closeness of fit" between a potential
qualified faculty member and the culture of a department can be accurately assessed.
A unique program closely associated with these types of mentoring
programs is the California State Forgivable Loan/Doctoral Incentive Program. This program is designed to seek and develop qualifiable candidates to
compete for positions within the California State University (CSU) system. In
this formal program, students are matched and "sponsored" by university
faculty and departments. The faculty/department members agree to mentor
the student through graduate school to the completion of a terminal degree.
During this time the student receives financial and professional support (up
to $10,000 per year for up to three years) in the form of a forgivable loan.
Should the student compete successfully for a faculty position within the CSU
system, the loan is forgiven at a rate of 20% per year of service (Lipton, De Miranda,
& Cain, 1995).
While many formal mentoring
strategies are designed to aid and develop a prospective diverse faculty pool,
formal mentoring strategies must also focus on the retention, promotion,
and tenure of new and junior faculty. Within a department, school, or university,
a formal mentoring strategy can greatly increase the productivity and
retention rate of new faculty. One such program established at California State
University, Los Angeles is the Faculty Mentor Project (FMP). This project is
designed to increase the efficiency and productivity of new faculty by pairing
them with a well-respected senior faculty member within their department.
The aim of the FMP is to facilitate the professional and social enculturation of
new faculty members into the university community. The mentor-mentee
relationship of the FMP is quite different than other formal and
informal mentoring projects discussed earlier. In the FMP, the mentor-mentee
relationship is a peer relationship in which the mentor and mentee are from the
same department. From the perspective of the new faculty member, this type
of relationship is quite valuable in getting "up to speed" in a timely and
efficient manner. From a mentor perspective, this relationship represents an
opportunity to bring a new faculty member to a level of departmental contribution
much earlier than the usual one to two year adjustment period. The mentor
also acclimates the mentee to department, school, and university structure
that will enable the new faculty member to more appropriately participate in university activities required for tenure
and promotion. This formal mentoring program represents a form of
professional partnership in which the mentor
guides, coaches, and then fades as the mentee grows confident and ever more
accustomed to the academic environment.
Reverse Mentoring
As a mentor-mentee relationship matures, many benefits and
opportunities emerge for both participants. One result of a successful mentoring
relationship, be it formal or informal, is the opportunity for
reverse mentoring. Developed out of trust and mutual
respect between the mentor and mentee, reverse mentoring is a value-added
interactive process that complements a professional atmosphere within an
academic department. It emerges when the energy, enthusiasm, and current
cutting-edge content knowledge of a junior faculty member are mixed with
the wisdom, knowledge, expertise, and experience of a more senior
member. This combination may result in new ideas, vision, and perspectives that
benefit the more senior faculty member, the more junior faculty member, and
the entire department. The mentee, now more mature and confident, begins
to include, inform, collaborate, and correct his or her mentor, when
appropriate. Both mutually lead and assume the roles of the quiet advocate for
each other. This most exciting outcome of a mature mentoring relationship is
an excellent indication of a successful mentoring process and a valuable
indicator that the highest goals of mentoring are being achieved.
DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION,
AND ASSESSMENT
Successful mentoring programs
are the result of planning and preparation. They should be developed and
implemented only after a review of appropriate research and careful
consideration of the needs and variables of the
institution, department, and constituencies. Wunsch (1994a) provided an
expanded version of the following checklist, well designed to stimulate questions
needed to implement a comprehensive mentoring program:
· Assessing individual and
institutional needs for mentoring.
· Defining goals and outcomes
for mentoring.
· Positing the program in the organization.
· Determining and obtaining
program resources.
· Developing and coordinating
the program.
· Selecting and monitoring participants.
· Assessing the program.
These provide an overview of
issues that must be considered. Their successful implementation will require
commitment by the participants, the department, and the institution.
The development of faculty in
technology programs who can work, manage, and lead in a diverse
environment ought to be a mission of our
institutions and programs. The preparation of
graduates who are well prepared to meet the challenges of careers in technology professions requires a highly qualified
faculty. Members of a diverse faculty who are prepared to provide the
appropriate learning experiences may also provide critical elements as role models for
all students and faculty.
Informal and formal mentoring
designed to facilitate the development of highly qualified and diverse
faculty enrich and strengthen academic institutions. As academic programs in
technology evolve and grow, the need for highly qualified diverse faculty will
increase. Mechanisms and strategies to meet the challenge of the 21st
century must be implemented and institutionalized to meet the requirements of
industry and education for a diverse professional workforce. These challenges
can only be met if the academic role models are in place to inspire, motivate, educate, and meet the needs of
America's greatest strengthdiversity.
Richardson and Skinner (1991)
asserted that "the principal obstacle to changing the learning environment
to better accommodate diversity and quality is the degree to which current
arrangements serve the purposes of those who operate the higher education
enterprise" (pp. 253-254). The future of our professions, and that of our
students, may be enhanced through continued examination of issues related
to quality and diversity. Open minds must apply this knowledge and available
resources to develop, implement, and institutionalize successful
mentoring programs to meet the needs of students, institutions, industry, and society.
References
Gerth, D. R., & Weiner, S. S. (1994). Preface. In
Dialogues for diversity: Community and ethnicity on
campus (The Project on Campus Community and Diversity of the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the
Western Association of Schools and Colleges). Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Lipton, E. B., De Miranda, M. A., & Cain, R. E. (1995).
Mentoring for diversity in technology
education. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Technology Education Association, Nashville, TN.
Richardson, R. C., Jr., & Skinner, E. F. (1991).
Achieving quality and diversity: Universities in a multicultural
society. New York: American Council on Education & Macmillan.
Wunsch, M. A. (1994a). A checklist for developing, implementing, and assessing mentoring programs [Appendix].
New Directions for Teaching and Learning,
57, 127-130.
Wunsch, M. A. (1994b). New directions for mentoring: An organizational development perspective.
New Directions for Teaching and Learning,
57, 9-13.
Dr. De Miranda is an Assistant Professor of Technology Education and Manufacturing in the Department of Technology at California State University,
Los Angeles. Dr. Lipton is Associate Dean and a Professor in the School of Engineering and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles. They
are, respectively, Co-Trustee and Trustee of Alpha Psi Chapter of Epsilon Pi Tau.
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