Title: Gender and mentoring of faculty in science and engineering: individual and organisational factors

Authors: Mary Frank Fox, Carolyn Fonseca

Addresses: School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0345, USA. ' School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0345, USA

Abstract: The study significantly advances understanding of faculty|s mentoring of other faculty, by gender, in science and engineering. The empirical analyses are grounded in a conceptual framework about the importance of individual and organisational characteristics in explaining faculty performance, including mentoring. The models investigate factors that explain: (1) who mentors, by gender and (2) who are mentored (women only, men only, or both women and men), by gender. Findings highlight the importance of individual and organisational/institutional characteristics for mentoring. Specifically, higher levels of rank significantly increase the likelihood of being a mentor among both women and men; while being a principal investigator is significant for men only. Departmental climates perceived as |stimulating| influence being a mentor, but differ by gender. Any effect of field on being a mentor is present only for women. Multinomial models point to gender differences in explaining who mentors women only, men only, or both.

Keywords: academia; careers; science; engineering; faculty; gender; mentoring; science; women; female mentors; male mentors; universities; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2006.013912

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2006 Vol.1 No.4, pp.460 - 483

Published online: 03 Jun 2007 *

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