The Importance of Mentorship in Higher Education

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

January is National Mentorship Month, and as this month ends, we wanted to explore mentorship and its effects on diversity in higher education. Mentorship is essential in facilitating professional development and individual growth. In higher education, mentorship has been linked to accelerated career growth, increased skill acquisition, and a boost in self-confidence.^[1] Mentorship is pivotal in advancing marginalized students' and faculty's academic and professional growth, addressing systemic inequities, and fostering a more inclusive environment. Providing mentorship to underrepresented individuals creates access to valuable networks, resources, and opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach. At the same time, mentorship across lines of race, culture, gender, and/or other differences helps break down biases and promotes deeper understanding between people. These relationships benefit the individuals involved and support larger organizational goals, like boosting performance, encouraging innovation, and increasing employee satisfaction. ²

In this edition of Ally Tips, we invite you to learnmore about the effects of mentorship on diversityand inclusion, particularly in the STEM disciplines. We also provide valuable Ally tips on being an effective mentor. And, as always, thanks for being an Ally!

The Role of Mentorship in Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in STEM

Mentoring is a fundamental element of socialization and support in higher education – particularly when trying to promote and preserve diversity. Mentorship from faculty is one of the most fundamental supporting factors of retention, success, and "fit” in STEM disciplines for those with marginalized racial,^1,² gender,^3,⁴ sexual,^5,⁶ and other identities. Mentorship also fosters a stronger sense of scientific identity for underrepresented students,⁷critical for offsetting disruptions to STEM pathways that occurrred in youth as a result of stereotypical notions of science ability/affinity.^8,⁹ Beside the individual outcomes, mentorship also contributes to a more inclusive climate as these relationships signal acceptance and buffer other negative interactions.^{10, 12}

Mentorship isn’t just top-down and/or within one institution. Peer mentorship (or near-peer mentoring, a college student mentoring a high school or middle school student) contributes to not just the academic success of students in STEM but also strengthens social connection and personal development in STEM fields.¹³ Additionally, near-peer mentoring provides incoming students with a better understanding of college life that cannot be gained from talking with a college counselor or online research.¹⁴ While Indiana University does not currently have a near-peer mentoring program, it may be worth exploring for recruitment and creating an environment that leads to a more diverse student body with tools to succeed in higher academia.

Faculty peer mentorship programs are also effective in promoting the success of faculty from underrepresented backgrounds.¹⁵ Peer mentorship programs also create a stronger sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and engagement in STEM.^16,¹⁷ Online mentorship programs can foster webs of mentorship that benefit all underrepresented communities in STEM (such as the rise of online mentorship programs),^18,¹⁹ but are especially meaningful for the persistence and growth disabled individuals in STEM.^{20, 21}

Understanding that mentorship is integral to supporting diversity in STEM,^{22, 23, 24} faculty must begin considering what they bring to mentoring relationships and how they can become more inclusive. This is especially important for faculty with privileged identities because their engagement in mentorship for diversity will necessitate mentorship of people with different identities. These relationships are instrumental to supporting persistence and success for underrepresented communities in STEM,^{25, 26, 27, 28, 29} but require a deeper element of intentionality.

Opportunities at Indiana University:

Office of the Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (OVPDEI): Offers mentorship programming to encourage underrepresented faculty (URM) to realize success in higher education. OVPDEI also offers specialized workshops with a focus on URM faculty connecting with senior scholars and opportunities to receive feedback on grants and book projects

Faculty-to-Faculty Networking Program (F2FNMP): Focuses on underrepresented minorities (URM), taking into consideration their needs and goals when pairing mentor and mentee.

LIFT Mentoring Circles: Provides one-on-one and group mentoring.

Enhanced Mentoring Program with Opportunities to Excel in Research (EMPOWER): Provides support to underrepresented junior faculty to improve grantsmanship skills, providing 42 awards annually.

Mentor Apprenticeship Program (MAP): A two-semester intensive course focused on training first year students to find success in both mentorship and student leadership positions.

Action Tips for Allies:

Cultivate Cultural Competency: Learn about the background of your mentees while being aware that each person has an individual experience, separate from their community.
Promote Cultural Humility: Examine personal bias and find ways to be open to new experiences and cultures.
Build Trust: Tailor your mentorship to the needs of your mentees.
Empowerment: Focus on the strengths of your mentee and provide constructive feedback.
Be Open to Growth: Learn as much from your mentee as they are learning from you.
Be A Role Model: Share your experiences and the benefits of being a mentor with your colleagues and students.
Support Career Development: Provide resources to help achieve goals, as well as celebrate achievements, large and small.

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Weekly Ally Resources

Article: Thriving vs. Surviving: benefits of formal mentoring on faculty well-being: Written by Indiana University faculty, this article looks at the challenges faced by female and underrepresented faculty and the benefits of mentoring programs.
Article: Practical advice for mentoring and supporting faculty colleagues in STEM fields: Views from mentor and mentee perspectives- The recipient of the 2020 American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Mid-career Leadership Award writes about the importance of mentorship, beyond formal committees. Some insight offers best practices for mentoring committees, opportunities for mentoring collaboration, how to build a community and network, and nominating colleagues. Two junior colleagues offer their experiences as mentees.
Article: Understanding what STEM mentoring ecosystems need to thrive: A STEM-ME framework - In response to the persistent racial and gender disparities in STEM, the authors offer STEM Mentoring Ecosystems (STEM-ME) to bring about change. They provide a framework and critique the current mentoring system to promote equity.
Article: Enhancing Research Mentor’s Cultural Awareness in STEM - This research study looks at evidence-based mentor training for Enhanced Cultural Awareness (ECA), applying training for mentors working with undergraduate researchers from underrepresented groups. The ECA module proved to be effective in increasing cultural awareness in mentorship.
Article: Establishing effective STEM mentoring relationships through mentor training - This research paper looks at topics to address inclusion in STEM mentorship and applies those topics in current STEM mentorship programs.

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