Critical Feminist Analysis of STEM Mentoring Programs: Revealing Systemic Inequities and Imbalances

• In Event: Women's Way of Leading and Mentoring: Opening Critical Spaces for Future Orientation in Higher Education

Abstract

Objectives or purposes:
Educational and workforce mentoring programs have been implemented over the last several decades to encourage the retention and success of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), (NCES 2018). These programs aim to help women offset challenges within historically male-dominated fields, yet implementation and results can vary widely. A meta-synthesis approach was used to review the existing literature on STEM mentoring programs. Two research questions guided our inquiry: (1) what are the challenges and barriers women in STEM fields experience?, and (2) what mentoring approaches were used to help mitigate these challenges?

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Critical feminist theory (CFT) places women at the center of the research, exposes sex and gender inequity, and explores the ways power and privilege are granted or denied (Martell & Steves, 2018). We use this framework to understand the goals and impact of mentoring programs and how they support retention and occupational advancement of women in STEM including Medicine and Biosciences. We used four primary strands of CFT to analyze the data: gender, oppression/patriarchy, social institutions, and systemic change.

Methods, Data sources, and Data analysis
A Meta-synthesis procedure (Cooper, 2016; Higgins, 2016) was used to review the current STEM literature within the past 8 years, 2010-2018. Peer-reviewed journal articles and reports were searched in databases (e.g. ERIC, JSTOR, Google scholar) with the terms mentor or mentoring, women, STEM disciplines or one of the STEM disciplines (e.g. engineering), and post-secondary. Our initial search yielded over 2,000 items; we selected 67 papers for deeper analysis. The analysis was conducted in two phases. The initial phase included the division of the four STEM areas amongst disciplines, while the second phase included coding according to the four primary strands of CFT.

Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
While we chose to focus on the four primary strands we found, however, female-focused programs tended to include minorities and other underserved individuals. The current literature demonstrates a variety of mentoring models for women in STEM professions. Traditional models of mentoring, such as institutional enforced mentoring programs have shown to be less successful for women as measured by retention, professional success, and self-stated professional satisfaction (Diekman, Brown, Johnston, & Clark, 2010). Successful programs include symposia featuring strong female role models in the STEM workforce, graduate/undergraduate mentoring, online forums, peer mentoring of cohorts with similar career goals, and peer mentoring including senior faculty facilitators. Each mentoring method serves different needs depending on which stage women along the STEM pipeline

Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
This study adds to the epistemology of mentoring women in STEM through feminist discourse. While women face many challenges along the STEM pipeline, quality mentoring programs offer a way to mitigate these challenges through personal and professional support. By examining effective mentoring programs, this study aims to increase the availability and development of quality mentoring programs for women in STEM.

Authors

• Anne L. Kern, University of Idaho

• Makini Z. Beck, Rochester Institute of Technology

• Jillian Cadwell, Washington State University - Tri-Cities

• Moni Dickerson

• Melinda Howard, Gonzaga University

• Ke Wu, University of Montana