Navigating a Career in Academia: Insights From Emeriti Engineering Faculty

• In Event: 47.097 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Eight - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 47.097-1 - Navigating the Academic Career

Abstract

This study shares the collective wisdom of renowned emeriti engineering faculty who served as mentors in the National Science Foundation INCLUDES Design and Developments Launch Pilot award (17-4458) for the Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training mentoring program. The IMPACT program pairs underrepresented minority (URM) faculty with emeriti faculty in engineering for career mentorship. A holistic single-case study design grounded by Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence was utilized to explore the professional practices and personal qualities emeriti faculty believe are necessary for success in the engineering professoriate. Preliminary findings indicate striking the balance in research, teaching, and service is dependent upon one’s creative, analytical, and practical abilities and the balance can be complicated by race and gender.

Authors

• Sylvia L. Mendez, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

• Valerie Martin Conley, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

• Jennifer Alayne Tygret

• Katie Johanson, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

• Kinnis Gosha, Morehouse College

• Rosario Gerhardt, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Comas Haynes, Georgia Institute of Technology