Sylvia L. Mendez, Valerie Martin Conley, Rebecca S. Keith, Comas Haynes and Rosario Gerhardt
The purpose of this paper is to explore a new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm sponsored by the National Science Foundation (15-7680) Office for Broadening Participation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore a new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm sponsored by the National Science Foundation (15-7680) Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering in the USA. The Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT) program pairs underrepresented minority (URM) faculty with emeriti faculty in engineering for career mentorship.
Design/methodology/approach
Researchers utilized a phenomenological qualitative research design to explore the influence of the three domains of the mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm (career development, sponsorship, and coaching) through participant interviews of URM and emeriti faculty. Interviews, grounded by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), offered an in-depth understanding of the nature, meaning, and ways in which the IMPACT participants perceived the value of the mentoring experience.
Findings
Phenomenological findings suggest mentees viewed IMPACT participation as a means for career progression, and mentors saw it as an opportunity to “give back” to the engineering field. Neither believed cultural or generational gaps would hamper their mentoring relationships, as their shared academic interests would facilitate a bridge for any gaps.
Research limitations/implications
This paper identifies new questions related to the expectations and interests of both mentors and mentees who are engaged in a mentoring relationship. A longitudinal approach would offer deeper insight into mentoring as the relationship persists over time.
Originality/value
Evidence at this stage indicates that the IMPACT program has the potential to contribute to the career progression of URM faculty through the inclusion of an often overlooked resource of emeriti faculty.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to engage with a foundational gendered imaginary in Western medical and popular discourse regarding fetal sexual development. It is an imaginary that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to engage with a foundational gendered imaginary in Western medical and popular discourse regarding fetal sexual development. It is an imaginary that consists of dual narratives that bolster an oppositional complementary model of sex-gender. By these accounts male sexual development results from complex and multi-faceted processes generated by the Y chromosome while female sexual development is straightforward, articulated through a discourse of “default sex” (Jost, 1953). Such apparent truths fit seamlessly with the timeworn notion of maleness and masculinity as always already active, and femaleness and femininity always and inevitably passive. In other words, he does and she is.
Design/methodology/approach
Despite embryogenetic findings thoroughly debunking these ideas, contemporary medical and biological textbooks remain haunted by outdated androcentric models of sex development. This paper attends to biomedical and everyday understandings of sex and gender to demonstrate how fresh lines of inquiry produce conditions that enable new ways of understanding bodies and embodied experiences.
Findings
This paper demonstrates how new ways of thinking can lead to a new understanding with regards to sex, gender, bodies, and experiences.
Originality/value
This paper attends to biomedical and everyday understandings of sex and gender to demonstrate how fresh lines of inquiry produce conditions that enable new ways of understanding bodies and embodied experiences.