2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The role demands of Black faculty mentors in engineering

This full research paper discusses the emerging theme of the role demands of Black faculty mentors of Black graduate students in engineering. Building upon an NSF-funded, early-stage, exploratory study aimed at improving representation and support for Black Ph.D.s in engineering (target population), a participatory action design research approach was used to run a focus group with seven Black faculty (Full Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors) at a southeastern institution of higher education in the United States. During the focus group, participants communicated that their mentoring roles were disproportionately higher compared to majority faculty counterparts. Among the roles by the Black faculty as being needed by their students were modelling awareness, psychosocial support, and professional navigation. Using the STEM mentoring ecosystems (STEM-ME) framework and Goode’s theoretical framework of role strain, open and thematic coding were conducted on the mentoring demand experiences shared by the faculty participants. The findings point to a need for institutions to augment their professional development to account for and reduce the multiple mentoring role demands experienced by Black faculty mentors in engineering. The paper concludes with implications for faculty professional development that serves to equitably support the excessive demands put on to Black faculty mentors in engineering.

Authors

Dr. Idalis Villanueva Alarcón http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-8767-2576 University of Florida [biography]

Dr. Idalis Villanueva Alarcón is Associate Chair and tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. A PECASE awardee, she has led multiple pioneering efforts in engineering education including multimodal methods in engineering education using sensor technologies and biophysiological tools, hidden curriculum, mentoring, active learning, professional identity, among others. She is a renowned national and international leader in engineering education earning her multiple accolades and honors through professional organizations such as the National Academy of Engineering, IEEE, and ASEE. She integrates her multiple experiences as a Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineer, Analytical Cell Biologist, and Engineering Education Researcher to tackle complex engineering education problems across the learner life span.
Minji Yun University of Florida [biography]

Minji Yun is a graduate student in science education in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. Her research centers on STEM workforce development and pre-service science teacher education, particularly emphasizing integrating computational thinking and leveraging technology to enhance teaching and learning.
Isabella Victoria University of Florida
Mr. Naqash Gerard University of Florida [biography]

Naqash Gerard is a graduate student associate at the Department of Engineering Education at University of Florida (UF). He completed his baccalaureate in computer science from Forman Christian College (FCCU) and his master’s in learning technologies from the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST). He served as a Sr. Software Quality Assurance Engineer in Clustox prior to joining UF. His research interests include professional development in engineering and computer science, the use of multi-modal tools (e.g., eye tracking, physiological electrodermal sensors) and machine learning in understanding the links between cognition, motivation, and performance in STEM classrooms and connected activities. He is currently serving as the treasurer of the Engineering Graduate Student Council in the Department of Engineering Education at UF.
Dr. Denise Rutledge Simmons P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3401-2048 University of Florida [biography]

Denise R. Simmons, Ph.D., PE, F.ASEE, PMP, LEED-AP, is a pioneering leader in civil engineering education and workforce development, currently serving as a tenured, full professor in the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering at the University of Florida. With over three decades of experience in both academia and industry, Dr. Simmons has continually integrated theoretical research and practical application, demonstrating a commitment to evolving engineering competence in its most holistic sense.

Dr. Simmons’s recent research efforts have expanded to include a nuanced exploration of communication within engineering education, specifically focusing on developing agentic communicators. Her studies delve into the complex dynamics of communication within research labs, examining how graduate students experience communication mis-cues and identifying strategies to help both students and their advisors navigate and overcome these challenges. She also investigates how faculty approach their communication with graduate students, the concerns they encounter, and the guidance they provide to cultivate stronger, more effective communicators.

Recognizing that effective communication is foundational to leadership and mentorship, Dr. Simmons emphasizes the role of oral communication in building agency. Her work uncovers how mastering oral communication can empower individuals to assert their ideas confidently and navigate professional interactions more effectively. This focus on agency around communication aligns seamlessly with her broader mission to equip engineers not just with technical skills but with the leadership, mentorship, and communication competencies essential for driving innovation and fostering inclusive growth in the field.

Her groundbreaking contributions to engineering education, supported by nearly $8 million in federal funding and over 100 refereed publications, continue to redefine the standards of excellence in the profession. Dr. Simmons’s dedication to empowering underrepresented groups and guiding minority-serving institutions earned her the esteemed honor of Fellow Member in the American Society for Engineering Education in 2023, solidifying her legacy as a transformative figure in both the academic and professional engineering communities.
Jasmine E. McNealy University of Florida [biography]

Dr. Jasmine E. McNealy is a a professor at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications where she directs the Infrastructure for Communities, Ecology for Data Hub (ICED Hub). She is also Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. An internationally recognized scholar, her research is interdisciplinary, centered at the intersection of media, technology, policy, and law. Of particular focus are the areas of privacy, surveillance, and data governance and emphasizing technological and the impacts on marginalized and vulnerable communities.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

For those interested in:

Advocacy and Policy
Faculty
Graduate