Texas A&M proposes to run career mentoring workshops and assess their impact. Mentoring activities are critical for successful promotions in the professoriate, and they are particularly needed for underrepresented faculty in the field of computing. The number of minority faculty or faculty with disabilities at most institutions is very small, making it difficult to find role models and mentors with similar experiences and backgrounds. To address this problem, the PI has developed a series of Academic Career Mentoring Workshops for Underrepresented Participants. The series started in 2005 and has been funded by an NSF BPC grant from 2007 through 2011. The Academic Career Mentoring Workshop series targets junior faculty and senior graduate students from the following underrepresented groups: African American, Hispanic, Native American, and people with disabilities. The Workshops will include senior faculty from these groups that can serve as role models and present proven strategies for academic careers in computing. With this proposal, the PI requests funding to continue and to assess these workshops.
The Workshops will cover cultural issues and their influence on topics such as starting a research program, networking, and navigating the tenure process. Panelists will be asked to address issues such as "Maintaining One's Identity" and "Overcoming Misconceptions," that address frustrations unique to underrepresented faculty and potential faculty (or senior graduate students). For example, ethnic minority faculty often struggle with the dilemma of maintaining one's culture given the significant time necessary to launch a research program. Further, underrepresented faculty must make a concerted effort, well beyond the norm, to find outlets and support communities of similar ethnicity. These problems can result in disillusionment that may result in young faculty choosing other career opportunities outside of academia. The proposed workshop complement the existing CRA-W Workshops, which focus on gender, and CRA Workshops, which do not target issues faced by women or ethnic minorities.
The 2012 Academic Careers Workshop (ACW) grant, provided support for the longitudinal study that was conducted in 2012 and partial support for the 2012 Academic Careers Workshop. At that time of the longitudinal study, there had been 166 workshop participants since the workshops started in 2005. The following is a summary of the results from the longitudinal study: The study entailed two components: focus groups and interviews conducted during the 2012 Academic Careers Workshop and an online survey administered during the summer 2012. 14 participants participated in the focus groups and 84 participants completed the survey (response rate of 54.9%). The survey revealed that 96% of the respondents indicated that the mock review panels were essential and helpful to their gaining knowledge and skills related to grant proposal development. Further, 52% reported that they utilize this information frequently in their career. 88% reported that the ACW was essential and helpful in their acquiring the skills and knowledge to write successful proposals. For all of the 2005 through 2011 years of ACW, the average award rate was 53%. 90% responded that the ACW Promotion & Tenure panel was essential or helpful in their gaining knowledge and skills in navigating this process. With respect to the focus groups, there were three particularly interesting, but unexpected results. The first was the desire to pay it forward. Due to the altruism and effort of the workshop organizers and the benefits the participants received, the majority of them said they felt compelled to help others. Second, from the focus groups, the participants commented on the "family" atmosphere. The participants felt a sense of comfort and were more open and authentic with others. Lastly, the focus group participants noted that the workshops helped them to have more empathy -- to see from others' perspectives.
