Mentoring for Engineering Academia and related disciplines

Transcription

1 Boḡaziçi University, Istanbul 25 April 2006 Mentoring for Engineering Academia and related disciplines Robert M. Gray Information Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering Stanford, CA This work was partially supported by the Presidential Award Excellence in Mentoring in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering through the White Office of Science and Technology and the National Science Foundation and by the Stanford University School of Engineering. A pdf of these slides may be found at gray/bogazici.pdf

2 Introduction The problem: Often too few engineers (and related technical practitioners) in important areas impact on economy, national infrastructure, national defense... if I had only known about the system, the courses, the orals, the advisers, the profession, the workload, the support organizations, the importance of communication skills, the funding, if there had only been good advice, an honest appraisal, a role model, others like me, support groups, warnings of pitfalls, encouragement, proper perspective,... Mentoring for Engineering Academia 2

3 Common complaints of dropouts, unhappy students and practitioners: Received poor advice (or no advice) Missed opportunities Poor understanding or misconceptions of education system, profession Lack of role models Felt isolated, lack of diversity Lack of public understanding of contributions of field Mentoring for Engineering Academia 3

4 Critical bottleneck: engineering faculty small numbers can have a major impact Some issues: (interrelated) Recruitment, across a wide spectrum Environment, should be productive and fulfilling Mentoring of students, of junior faculty, of middle faculty Mentoring for Engineering Academia 4

5 Mentor The Oxford English Dictionary defines mentor as allusively, one who fulfils the office which the supposed Mentor fulfilled towards Telemachus. Hence, as common noun: An experienced and trusted adviser. Telemachus and Mentor by Pablo E. Fabisch from Les Adventures de Telemaque Clearly many styles, stages, models,... Mentoring for Engineering Academia 5

6 Why am I here? Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) Administered on behalf of the White House by the National Science Foundation, seeks to identify outstanding mentoring efforts/programs designed to enhance the participation of groups underrepresented in science, mathematics and engineering. The awardees will serve as exemplars to their colleagues and will be leaders in the national effort to more fully develop the Nation s human resources in science, mathematics and engineering. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 6

7 How?? To begin, winners give talks at a symposium on mentoring; nominations are proposals for $10K grants winners are PIs. For the talk: collected cumulative wisdom from nominating students. For the grant: organized a workshop with matching Stanford funds & appointed nominating students to organizing/editorial committee. June 2004 PAESMEM/Stanford School of Engineering Workshop on Mentoring for Academic Careers in Engineering Mentoring for Engineering Academia 7

8 This talk: Reflections and observations on the practice of mentoring drawn from from the workshop (including preparation and hindsight), and future projects. Aimed primarily at students interested in pursuing academic careers and junior faculty and those who mentor them but most comments apply more generally. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 8

9 Mentors mentored by mentees feedback Feedback a basic principle of engineering and a useful model or metaphor for mentoring Graduation Hindsight Stay accessible to and keep in touch with former students, benefit from their hindsight collective wisdom Mentoring for Engineering Academia 9

10 Collective Wisdom on Best Practices for a Mentor Culled from former students and conversations with successful colleagues Environment Work to create a comfortable, friendly, cooperative, and productive environment with the best possible resources for all students. Success begets success and attracts top quality students. Cooperation Discourage aggressive competition among students, encourage cooperative efforts and openness. Sadly many people need education in basic politeness and diplomacy skills. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 10

11 Counter argument The real world is cutthroat and hard, students should not be coddled. Counter-counter argument Students can be prepared for the tough bits, academia should optimize learning. Recruitment Actively recruit a diverse group. It improves the quality of life for all involved and enhances group morale. A diverse group of students can actively assist in recruiting new generations. Confidence Many students start with little, but can become outstanding when properly encouraged and appreciated. Particularly true in underrepresented groups. Related: The imposter syndrome Mentoring for Engineering Academia 11

12 Credibility The better we are at what we do, the better mentors we will be. Integrity Words alone won t do it (just read the newspapers). Many students do not take it seriously. Mentors must. Too much cynicism in professors can cause real damage. Communication skills Brilliant research is of little use if not understood. Correct English with good style is critically important. Practice writing and speaking skills constantly. Chores and citizenship Engage students in professional responsibilities: reviewing, proposal writing, presentations, recruiting, mentoring. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 12

13 Professional Visibility Send students to conferences to attend and give talks. Rehearse them extensively. Introduce them to colleagues. Get them plugged in. Encourage them to participate in and help with local workshops and conferences. After graduation recommend them for program committees, technical committees, reviewing chores. Credit Give it generously to students. It helps them and makes you look good. Attitude Building and maintaining a high quality and diverse group takes conscious commitment, effort, and action. This is particularly true when initially bringing diversity to a monolithic group. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 13

14 Sharks Although many institutions have programs for diminishing sexual harrassment, it still exists. Be sensitive to potentially embarrassing or dangerous situations and do not accept inappropriate behavior from colleagues towards your students. Take very seriously complaints of inappropriate behavior. Followup Mentoring does not stop with a degree, students evolve into colleagues. Visits from alums provide wonderful examples, information, and inspiration. Former students often lack mentors at new institutions. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 14

15 How find good mentors? For graduate students the research supervisor usually plays the role of primary mentor Some feel that it is best to find a mentor who is not also the research supervisor. A good compromise is to go for multiple mentors. Desirable attributes in a mentor: An adviser should act as a positive role model for students. An adviser should be trustworthy. An adviser should have good personal and communication skills. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 15

16 An adviser should be encouraging. An adviser should be technically strong and possesses a good scholarly reputation in the associated field. An adviser should be highly accessible. Former students of the adviser should have found good positions after graduation. Papers coauthored by the adviser with students should often have students as lead authors. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 16

17 How be a good mentor? The most obvious contribution of a PhD research supervisor is guiding students to learn how to do, evaluate, and present research. In addition, typically a mentor provides academic advice, both for meeting program requirements and for building a strong background in related areas, such as statistics, mathematics, physics, and biology; provides a sounding board for career planning and opinions on possible career tracks; provides an opportunity and critiques for technical talks in preparation for oral exams, thesis defenses, job interviews, conference presentations; Mentoring for Engineering Academia 17

18 provides an informed source for comparing job offers which can help students reach a sound decision; keeps students posted on current literature, meetings, and news; helps hone student s writing skills, both for technical articles and for outreach articles that expand the audience for the technical field; provides advice and help on preparing and submitting articles for scholarly publication and, on the other side, for reviewing work by others; provides connections into professional networks of colleagues, introduces students to colloquium speakers and other visitors, suggests collaboration opportunities. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 18

19 Mentors to avoid Using American film icons as examples Professor Ned Brainard: the absent minded professor Dr. Frankenstein:unapproachable Dr. Indiana Jones:inaccessible De-mentors: suck joy, happiness, and hope and eventually the soul from their victims Dr. No, Professor Moriarty: evil Mentoring for Engineering Academia 19

20 Be wary of mentors who are only cheerleaders without also being constructive critics. Do your homework, talk to peers, but remember even professors with fearsome reputations might have excellent and contented students, while the apparent paragons might have divisive and stressed groups. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 20

21 Moving on: junior faculty Finding a mentor: many schools have programs, but find one or two preferably tenured. How help? Advice on key academic responsibilities of teaching and advising, negotiating balance and getting good evaluations. Help finding resources Navigating the departmental maze, who actually does what. TA and RA approvals and appointments, ethics and honor codes. Proposal writing, examples and editorial help. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 21

22 Demystifying the tenure process, planning ahead. Maximizing visibility, balancing committees and service with research and teaching, professional positions. University connections, inside and outside your department Help keep things in perspective, transcending the daily crises. Mistakes happen, get past it (grant and paper rejections are not personal). Academic leadership Balancing family and work (see Proceedings) Mentoring for Engineering Academia 22

23 How can individuals and organizations foster good mentoring? Promote events that spread the word and stimulate discussion: PAESMEM Talks like this one Workshops, e.g., 2004 PAESMEM/Stanford School of Engineering Mentoring Workshop Free proceedings available ( Mentoring for Engineering Academia 23

24 The workshop had two primary goals. One goal was to provide an opportunity for mentors, mentees, and mentoring facilitators to educate each other and have fun doing so. The second goal was to produce proceedings of the workshop, including summaries of the talks and discussions. This book fulfills that goal and provides a distillation of the best practices, resources, family issues, and other important issues raised at the workshop. Mentoring for Academic Careers in Engineering Mentoring for Academic Careers in Engineering In June 2004 a workshop was held at Stanford University on the subject of mentoring for academic careers in engineering. For two days the workshop provided a forum on the needs, goals, methods, and best practices for mentoring engineering students interested in an academic career, young faculty beginning such a career, and recently tenured faculty. The emphasis was on mentoring members of underrepresented groups in academic engineering, especially women. The workshop was jointly supported by the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering (PAESMEM) through the National Science Foundation and by the School of Engineering at Stanford University. Proceedings of the PAESMEM/Stanford School of Engineering Workshop Grayphics Publishing Mentoring for Engineering Academia 24

25 Mentoring resources (list tailored to US and specifically to women, but the ideas are general) MentorNet Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Women in Electrical Engineering (WEE) Women in Computer Science (WICS) Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Women in Engineering Program and Advocates Network Mentoring for Engineering Academia 25

26 What next? In September 2005 a proposal was submitted to the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) for a followup workshop Mentoring for Engineering Academia II Good news: Proposal was successful and workshop will take place July 22 July 27, Bad news: Attendence limited to 40 Some ideas extracted from blizzard that produced proposal: Mentoring for Engineering Academia 26

27 Objectives The development and documentation of ideas on how to mentor students, colleagues, and academic administrators on issues relating to academic careers in engineering and related disciplines with an emphasis on issues relating to women faculty in electrical engineering and computer science. Workshop participants will discuss, distill, and document methods to mentor students on pursuing a successful academic career of teaching, research, and leadership, Mentoring for Engineering Academia 27

28 mentor academic colleagues on 1. seeking genuinely open and fair searches which actively seek and recruit a wide diversity of applicants, 2. working for a supportive and cooperative environment in which junior faculty can thrive and advance, 3. helping recently tenured mid-career faculty plan the next stages of their career, and 4. encouraging and assisting junior and mid-career faculty to consider roles in academic adminstration. mentor academic administrators on providing adequate support for individual students and student organizations Mentoring for Engineering Academia 28

29 Topics: Updated from first workshop Fundamentals of mentoring for engineering academia Undergraduate students Graduate students (New subtopic) Mentoring for potential job search issues which generally concern women Junior faculty Post-tenure faculty Mentoring for academic leadership: Directors, Chairs, Deans, Provosts, and Presidents Faculty and Family: Strategies for time sharing profession and parenting Mentoring for Engineering Academia 29

30 Topics: Added How to turn lip service into genuine action Promoting fairness and openness in search committees The myths and standard excuses for preserving the status quo and how to respond Measuring sustainable progress for women in academia Metrics - are they needed or valid? Quantifying success - what should it look like? Assessing the engineering climate and the value of mentoring Advice and resources when you are invited to speak on mentoring, gender, and diversity Mentoring for Engineering Academia 30

31 Advice and resources when you are asked to serve on institutional visiting and review committees Outreach: NSF Criterion 2, how to ensure broad impact and quality, outreach to the public, outreach to improve the pipeline (US specific, but many other countries have similar requirements) Building a mentoring system from the ground up: a onestop shopping guide for deans/chairs to put things in place. Existing exemplar mentoring programs and resources such as the NSF ADVANCE Program Mentoring for Engineering Academia 31

32 Parting thoughts Many points may seem obvious or simplistic, but unfortunately they are not generally recognized or practiced. Workshops are an intense, productive, and informative means of considering these issues; can have a big impact on a few, well-placed individuals; have a moderate cost given the benefits. In particular, beautiful location + hot topics can attract an excellent mix of experience and beginners. Mentoring for Engineering Academia 32