DEVELOPING HUMAN CAPACITY THROUGH MENTORING OF UNDERREPRESENTED WOMEN AND MINORITY GRADUATE STUDENTS FOR STEM CAREERS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0230503
• Grant No.: 2012-38503-19995
• Project No.: INDW-2012-02767
• Proposal No.: 2012-02767
• Program Code: WAM
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2012
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2015
• Grant Year: 2012

Project Director
Esters, L.

Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
The purpose of this project is to develop mentoring-based retention strategies that will enable currently enrolled women and underrepresented minority graduate students in Purdue University's College of Agriculture to successfully persist and complete STEM-based agricultural and life sciences degrees. A secondary purpose will be to recruit new cohorts of women and underrepresented minority students to pursue STEM-based agricultural and life sciences graduate degrees. A portfolio of products from this project will include: (1) a website of organized electronic mentoring resources; (2) feedback system and measurement tools; (3) faculty development through mentoring workshop; (4) an innovative peer-to-peer model for recruiting and mentoring women and underrepresented minority graduate students in the agricultural sciences; (5) research summaries of outcomes; (6) mentoring and recruitment tips for faculty to learn how to apply effective strategies for women and underrepresented minorities; and (7) a summary of metrics and milestones for academic and professional development of graduate students.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

100%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
802	6010	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
802 - Human Development and Family Well-Being;

Subject Of Investigation
6010 - Individuals;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

underrepresented minorities

recruitment

graduate students

stem

mentoring

Goals / Objectives
Goals: The long-term goals of this project are to: (a) increase the mentoring support for currently enrolled women and underrepresented minority students in Purdue University's College of Agriculture, and (b) recruit a significantly greater number of women and URM students to Purdue University's College of Agriculture who will complete STEM-based agricultural and life science graduate degrees and enter the STEM workforce. Project Objectives: 1. Develop a mentoring program that will address professional development needs and enhance academic success and career readiness of women and URM graduate students pursuing STEM-based agricultural and life sciences graduate degrees. 2. Develop a collaborative partnership between an 1862 (Purdue) and 1890 land-grant universities (Florida A&M University, Langston University, North Carolina A&T State University) to provide a model of social support for women and URM students pursuing STEM-based agricultural and life sciences graduate degrees. 3. Develop a feedback program to identify successful mentoring strategies and develop key metrics for women and URM graduate students to achieve academic and professional development milestones. 4. Develop a successful peer-to-peer mentoring recruitment program to increase the number of women and URM students pursuing STEM-based agricultural and life sciences graduate degrees. Outcome/Impact: Human and social capital will be developed among students (and their mentors) in agricultural and life science contexts. Students will have higher levels of academic performance, career readiness, professional development, and attained milestones. Professors will be better equipped with gender and culturally relevant mentoring strategies. A new a collaborative partnership model will be developed for 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities.

Project Methods
Three major activities will be carried out through this project include the: 1) Mentoring Program, 2) Feedback Program, and 3) Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Recruitment Program. The first activity which is the Mentoring Program will be established to address the professional development needs and enhance the academic success and career readiness of women and underrepresented minority graduate students pursuing STEM-based agricultural and life sciences graduate degrees. Specific components of the Mentoring Program will include a STEM Faculty Mentor Development Workshop which will be used to provide mentors and their proteges with the knowledge and skills necessary to help facilitate successful mentoring relationships. The Mentoring Program will also include a Peer-to-Peer Recruitment component that will allow advanced-level Purdue graduate students who participate in the Mentoring Program to serve as mentors themselves for prospective STEM-degree graduates. Prospective students will be identified through visits that will be made to the three collaborating 1890 land-grant. Lastly, we will organize a Minority STEM Professional Mentoring Speaker Series. We plan to conduct a panel-type speaking event whereby selected members of our STEM Advisory Committee will serve on the panel on a rotational basis. The second activity is the Mentor Feedback Program. The purpose of this activity is to identify successful mentoring strategies and develop key metrics for women and underrepresented minority graduate students to achieve academic and professional development milestones. Faculty and graduate students will be asked to report metrics and attained milestones on a monthly-basis. By doing so, faculty and graduate students will be more cognizant of their goals, metrics, and milestones, and we anticipate that there will be greater focus and exerted effort in attaining key milestones. Additional elements of the Mentor Feedback Program will include a student longitudinal tracking component which tracks the professional progress of students, asking about job placement and whether they are using the skills & knowledge they learned . The third activity is the Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Recruitment Program. The purpose of this activity is to recruit upper-level undergraduates or master's degree students from our collaborating 1890 land-grant institutions to "experience" Purdue University and participate in the Peer-to-Peer component of the Mentoring Program. The focus of this activity will be on developing the social support of women and underrepresented minority students. We also anticipate that this activity will serve as one of the major sources of new URMs entering Purdue University's College of Agriculture. Finally, the project directors will make yearly visits to each of the collaborating 1890 land-grant institutions. The purpose of these visits will be to develop an ongoing collaborative partnership between 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities that will result in a steady cadre of women and underrepresented students pursuing STEM-based agricultural and life science graduate degrees at Purdue University.

Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audeince reached by our grant project efforts included faculty,staff andadvanced undergraduate and master's students from two 1890 Historically Black Land-Grant Universities;women and underrepresentedminoritygraduate students in Purdue University'sCollege of Agriculture; and faculty, staff andstudentsat Purdue University. Changes/Problems:Of the originial four project objectives,only one was not fully realized which was the: Development ofa successful peer-to-peer mentoring recruitment program to increase the number of women and URM students pursuing STEM-based agricultural and life sciences graduate degrees. This project objective was not carried out simply because our team discovered that the other objectives required a larger investent of our time andresources. We just submitted a "phasetwo" WAMS proposal that has as a major goal, the development of a comprehensive peer-to-peer mentoringprogram. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided trainign and professional development opportinities forfaculty,staff andadvanced undergraduate and master's students fromtwo 1890 Historically Black Land-Grant Universities;women and underrepresentedminoritygraduate students in Purdue University'sCollege of Agriculture; and faculty, staff andstudentsat Purdue University. Collectivley, these trainingand professional developmentopportunitieshavefocusedon enhancingthe mentoring experiences of women and underrepresented minority students (URM) pursuing STEM-based agricultural and life sciences graduate degrees. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of our project have been disseminated and shared locally (wiithin our College and University) and nationally. Thishas been achieved through presenting at seminars, workshops, national conferences & meetings and in peer-reviewed journals. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our grantproject resulted in thedevelopment of theMentoring@Purdue (M@P) program. The purpose of theM@P Program is to increase the number of women and URMs pursuing post-secondary STEM-based agricultural and life science degrees in the College of Agriculture at Purdue University. The M@P program actively engages faculty, staff, and students at Purdue University and two 1890 historically Black land-grant universities. Through the M@P program, three major activities were developed andinstitutionalized withinPurdue University's College of Agriculture: 1. Monthly Professional Development Workshops Focusedon promoting, building, and enhancing mentoring relationships between faculty, and women and URM graduate students in the College of Agriculture. Past workshops have emphasized mentoring across generational, cultural, and gender differences; creating a culture of mentoring; navigating STEM and Agricultural and Life Sciences disciplines; and cultivating mentoring relationships. 2. M@P Annual Invited Lecture Series Through thsi activity we invite nationally recognized scholars and practitioners in the fields of mentoring, diversity and inclusion, and creating climates of success for underrepresented students to share strategies with Purdue University students, faculty, and leadership on how to enhance mentoring efforts and bolster recruitment and retention of women and URMs pursuing graduate study both in the College of Agriculture and across Purdue University. 3. M@P Summer Scholars Program This activity is designed to build a pipeline of talent entering the Purdue University, College of Agriculture to pursue STEM-based agricultural and life science advanced degrees through providing advanced undergraduate and master's students from two 1890 land-grant universitieswith an opportunity to engage with faculty and students, explore research opportunities, and consider graduate study at Purdue.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Brown, B.R., Esters, L.T., & Knobloch, N. A. (2014). Enhancing the graduate school experiences of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) from 1890 historically Black land-grant universities. 2014 HBCU Student Success Summit, Atlanta, GA.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brown, B.R., Esters, L.T., Knobloch, N.A. (2015). Increasing the presence of URMs in STEM through mentoring-based recruitment. American Association of Blacks in Higher Education National Conference, Charleston, SC.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brown, B.R., Esters, L.T., Knobloch, N.A. (2015). Experiences of 1890 historically Black land-grant students participating in a graduate school recruitment at a research university. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brown, B.R., Esters, L.T., Knobloch, N.A. (2015). Developing the graduate student pipeline in STEM using mentoring-based recruitment strategies. 2015 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, Washington, DC.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brown, B.R., Cropps, T.A., Esters, L.T., (2015). United we stand: Increasing the Persistence of URMs in STEM through strategic partnerships. 2015 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, Washington, DC.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brown, B.R., Knobloch, N.A., & Esters, L.T. (2015). Experiences of 1890 historically Black land-grant students participating in a graduate school recruitment at a research university. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Cropps, T.A., Esters, L.T., Brown, B.R., & Knobloch, N. A. (2015). Enhancing Persistence of Blacks Pursuing Graduate Degrees Through Mentoring. 2015 HBCU Student Success Summit, Atlanta, GA.