Mentoring and Networking Workshop for Junior Women Faculty in the Big 10

Very few opportunities exist for junior women faculty in engineering to network, foster peer mentoring relationships, and interact with other female engineering faculty, particularly with female role models. The difficulty in connecting junior women faculty with senior women mentors contributes to under-representation of women in engineering faculty. The proposed workshop for assistant professors is designed to provide them with professional skills that will help them be successful faculty members and give them opportunities for mentorship and professional collaborations across institutions to counter isolation and lack of networking opportunities.

The goal of this workshop is to enhance the professional skills and network of junior women faculty in engineering departments in the Big 10+. Methods used will include faculty toolbox sessions to provide core skills (negotiation, elevator pitch, management skills), activities designed to build peer-mentoring skills, and a professional coaching session. A keynote speaker and a panel session with deans from the Big 10+ will provide participants the perspectives of senior administrative leaders. In addition, a panel will address the intersection of race and gender in a session during the meeting. The senior women mentors who attend will also benefit from additional mentoring training, mentoring experience, and development of their own research networks.