Peg Boyle Single

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Mentoring for Engineering StudentsSenior
Design Project

• Peg Boyle Single, Ph.D.
• Research Associate Professor
• Department of Education
• University of Vermont
• ME 185 Senior Design Project
• September 4, 2002
• Faculty Instructor James C. Iatridis

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The Scientific Method
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Mentoring Model Multiple Mentors
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Presentation Overview

• Benefits of mentoring
• A model of mentoring
• Dealing with problem people - prevent it first
  (setting expectations)
• Mentoring Making it work for you
• Protégé-drive model

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Benefits of Mentoring
Informational benefits
Instrumental benefits
Psychosocial benefits
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Informational Benefits

• Information delivery
• Obtaining technical expertise
• Examples for project design
• Suggesting analysis
• Assistance with analysis
• Allocating/suggesting resources, equipment, books

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Psychosocial Benefits

• Social support, confidence building
• Examples
• helping normalize the challenges of being a
  senior by self-disclosing their own early
  challenges
• ask mentors about their experiences as seniors
• encourage appropriate risk taking
• offering verbal praise, when appropriate
• providing constructive criticism on a project
• Informational and psychosocial benefits often
  occur simultaneously

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Instrumental Benefits

• Provide exposure and opportunities
• Area of mentoring where race and gender
  differences in opportunity endure
• Examples
• Write a recommendation
• Offer a job, internship
• Co-present at a conference

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Discussion Questions

• What type of informational benefits/resources do
  you think you need/will need?
• What type of psychosocial benefits/resources do
  you need/will need?
• What type of instrumental benefits/resources do
  you need/will need?

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Presentation Overview

• Benefits of mentoring

• A model of mentoring
• Dealing with problem people - prevent it first
• Mentoring Making it work for you

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Mentoring Model
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Planning

• Recruiting
• Managing Expectations
• Protégés identify my needs/benefits
• Mentors ask about their resources/benefits/time
• Identify your mission for the mentoring
  relationship
• Share expectations for the mentoring relationship
• Discuss an informal mentoring agreement
• Preventing interpersonal problems
• mis-matched expectations
• mis-attribution of words or behaviors
• mis-communication of facts (go to the source)
• Matching

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Structure

• Training
• Coaching
• Biggest obstacle to successful mentoring time
  and scheduling
• Pick a regular time to meet (first Monday of
  every month avoids scheduling conflicts)
• Pick a regular place to start the meeting
• Who ever cancels needs to reschedule
• Community Building

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Assessment

• Review times and schedules
• Self-assessment tell mentor how their
  advice/suggestions influenced career since last
  meeting
• Short, simple, regular assessment onus of
  responsibility on you
• Stop doing, start doing, continue doing (Stephen
  Covey)

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Discussion Questions

• Identify personal mission for your mentoring
  relationship what do you want to get out of it?
• Scheduling what are your current meeting
  times/frequencies is this working? Need to make
  a change?
• How would you approach the assessment? Send
  email, voice mail, in person?
• What should your mentor start, stop, continue,
  doing?
• Not all mentoring relationships work Plan B???