Career Pathway and Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success), a Research Initiative Focused on Nurturing Emerging Scholars of Color

• In Event: Introspection on Lessons Learned: Tenured Scholars of Color and Academic Administrators on Diversifying the Professoriate

Abstract

Presenter 3 is Chair and Associate Professor of the Department of Educational Administration at a major research university and provided leadership for Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success). Presenter 3 is a Faculty Fellow and has published in numerous journals and recently published two books, including one on Latino males in higher education. Presenter 3 has been recognized as a leading voice on the state of Latino male education at state and national levels.

With a focus on faculty diversity, Presenter 3 will describe a personal career path, the role of a recently appointed department chair, and leadership for Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success). Projects MALES is multi-faceted research and mentoring award-winning initiative that sheds light on the plight of Latino males in education. It is focused on nurturing emerging scholars of color. The Project encompasses three interrelated initiatives with national, state, and local impact: nationally, it oversees an ongoing research agenda focused on understanding the experiences of Latino males across the education pipeline; statewide, it convenes a P-16 Consortium focused on the success of male students of color in six major urban areas through its state Educational Consortium for Male Students of Color; and locally, it coordinates a mentoring program that aims to cultivate an engaged support network for males of color at a major public research university and in school districts across the state, and serves as a model for other mentoring programs across the state. Project MALES includes a Faculty and Research Affiliates Program, a nationwide collaboration of scholars cultivating a research agenda on Latino male students. Project MALES is committed to elevating the work of these emerging scholars through networking, collaborations, and research dissemination. With these strategies, the Project is giving rise to a new generation of faculty of color doing critical research work on boys and young men of color.

Author

• Victor Saenz, The University of Texas - Austin