2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Future GR.A.D.S. (Graduate & Advanced Degree Students); A Mentoring Program to Support Undergraduate Hispanic Seniors through the Graduate School Application Process.

Presented at Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 4: Mentoring Programs in Graduate Education

A recent House of Representatives Appropriations Report expressed concern about the severe underrepresentation of Hispanic Ph.D. graduates in STEM. To increase the number of doctoral degrees earned, there must be an increase in the number of Hispanics entering graduate programs. According to the ASEE report: Engineering by the Numbers, even though Hispanics represent 18.7% of the US population, only 9.2% and 6.1% of masters and doctoral degrees, respectively, are awarded to Hispanics. Further, the numbers decrease again when we consider faculty appointments, where only 3.6% of faculty appointments in engineering are held by Hispanic professors.

Increasing Hispanic representation in engineering graduate school and in engineering faculty positions is critical. Hispanic representation in both these settings provides critical role models and will likely attract more Hispanics to these degree programs, encourage more young Hispanic people to pursue STEM degrees, and increase the number of positive classroom experiences for this subpopulation.

To contribute to these objectives, SHPE began a program called Future GRADS in Fall 2022. The program provides support for Hispanic undergraduate seniors as they prepare to apply for graduate school. Faculty, post-docs, and graduate student mentors are paired with undergraduate seniors to provide support for navigating the graduate school application process (GSAP). The matching criteria includes factors such as discipline, institution, and the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education of the institutions to which the undergraduate senior plans to apply. Mentors are trained to guide and coach their mentees through the GSAP and give feedback along the way on everything from creating a strong personal statement to how to handle mitigating factors like a low GPA. The initial relationship lasts three months with the option to extend for an additional three months to prepare for the interview portion of the application process.

The program implements a series of evaluation touch points to gauge involvement level as well as program design and support satisfaction. There is also a virtual midpoint meeting with the mentors and program staff to talk and share lessons learned as well as ideas for improvements. Survey data collected from mentees are designed to evaluate the transformative learning process that occurs as students gain information and adjust their thinking and materials for the GSAP.

This program should be generalizable to other historically unrepresented communities as well as other STEM degrees. This program is also structured to identify areas where Hispanic students struggle when applying to graduate school. This information will allow the program to be continuously improved and will provide data to support development of new interventions to fill any identified gaps. The program also provides the opportunity to educate both mentors and mentees, not only in the topics pertaining the GSAP, but also in how to be good mentors for future generations, giving participants the opportunity to pay it forward once they are done with the process themselves.

This paper presents the design and implementation process of the Future GRADS program as well as results from our pilot execution during the Fall of 2022.

Authors

Susan Arnold Christian Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Inc. [biography]

Susan Arnold Christian currently serves the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers as a Manager for the Research & Innovation office. She helps lead the MentorSHPE and InternSHPE programs in this role.
In her former roles she has served as the Assistant Director for the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED) at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA from 2010-2020. Prior to joining Virginia Tech in September of 2010, she served as the Outreach Program Coordinator for the Women in Engineering & Science Program at Kansas State University from 2000-2010. She began her work in STEM outreach and student support at Girls to Women, a private not for profit in Kansas City, in the late 90’s. She has also served on the board for WEPAN from 2012-2014.
She earned her M.S. in Youth Development from the University of Nebraska and her B.S. in Family Studies at Kansas State University.
Dr. Dayna L. Martínez Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Inc. [biography]

Dr. Dayna L. Martínez currently serves as a Director of Research & Innovation at SHPE. In this role, she oversees the Equipando Padres program, pre-college programming, graduate programming, faculty development, as well as different aspects of research and data analysis.

An industrial engineer by training, before joining SHPE, Dayna was a faculty member in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at Northeastern University in Boston, MA after working at their Healthcare Systems Engineering Institute (HSyE) as a post-doctoral research fellow.

Native from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dayna graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus and then she completed a master’s and PhD degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Being Hispanic and an engineer herself, Dayna has a passion for increasing Hispanic representation in STEM. She currently lives with her husband Andrés, their two sons David and Sebastián, and their miniature schnauzer Lucca in Winter Garden, Florida.
Esther Gonzalez [biography]

Esther González, MPA, MBA, ABD is a PhD Candidate at University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy with subject matter expertise in organization behavior and diversity management. Her research is multidisciplinary and applies methods and fields in public policy and management. She is a published author in several peer reviewed journals with media mentions in Forbes. Previously, she served as Director on the Research and Innovation team at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). She is a multifaceted servant leader, equity advocate, and researcher with experience across the non-profit, public, and private sectors.

Upon completion of her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Development Studies at UCLA, she began a successful career in banking and finance at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch. Driven to pursue a career in public service, she completed her MPA at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and MBA at Cornell Tech. She was a leadership fellow in the Southern California Leadership Network’s Leadership LA program and recently completed her Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from eCornell. Currently, she is completing her doctoral studies at the USC Price School of Public Policy where she is a PhD Candidate.
Andrea D. Beattie Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Inc. [biography]

Andrea D. Beattie is a graduate from Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Political Science in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Currently she serves as a Manager, Research and Innovation at SHPE. In this role, she assists the organization with research, program evaluation, and data analytics.
Ashleigh Tierney Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Inc. [biography]

Ashleigh currently serves as a Director of Research & Innovation at SHPE. In this role, she leads the MentorSHPE, InternSHPE, ScholarSHPE, SHPE Academy, and professional development programs. She is passionate about helping college students form meaningful, goal-aligned connections with peers, professionals, and companies. To accomplish this, she uses a data-based approach to customizing best practices to fit the individual needs and goals of students and companies.
Ashleigh has worked for a variety of higher education institutions (large, public 4-year; small, private 4-year; community college) in a myriad of roles and offices. This varied experience has provided her with a first-hand understanding of the challenges and barriers college students face related to success, persistence, and degree completion. This understanding is key to the successful design and implementation of higher education adjacent programming at industry partners.
Ashleigh completed a BS in Biological Engineering at Kansas State University where she worked in the Women in Engineering and Science program. In this role, she witnessed the incredible impact targeted support and guidance can have for STEM students. She then completed an MEd in Higher Education Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Institutional Research at Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Kimberly D. Douglas Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Inc. [biography]

Dr. Kimberly D. Douglas is SHPE’s Chief Research & Innovation Officer. She has over 25 years of experience as an engineering educator and designs programs and infrastructure for increasing the persistence and degree completion rates of STEM students, with a particular focus on the Hispanic and Latino community. Kimberly holds a Doctorate in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering from Arizona State University, and B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management from Oklahoma State University. She has held tenured faculty appointments at Oregon State University and Kansas State University; her Professional Engineering license in the state of Oregon; and holds a DEI certificate from Cornell University. Dr. Douglas served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering for 10 years and is a past President of WEPAN.

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