2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work in progress (WIP) paper argues that the success of faculty mentorship programs in engineering colleges depends fundamentally on the existence of an inclusive community framework. Traditional approaches to mentorship often emphasize procedural pairings, outcomes, or compliance structures, yet they overlook the social and cultural ecosystem in which mentorship operates. Without a strong foundation of shared purpose and mutual accountability, mentorship programs risk becoming transactional rather than transformative. This paper introduces a community framework that redefines mentorship as a natural outcome of a connected academic community rather than an isolated intervention. The community framework is grounded in three interrelated pillars: shared purpose, which aligns mentorship with collective goals of equity and educational excellence; psychological safety, which allows vulnerability, dialogue, and honest reflection to flourish; and distributed leadership, which empowers faculty at all levels to contribute to the mentorship culture. Drawing on theories of belonging, organizational learning, and inclusive leadership, the paper conceptualizes community as both the precondition and continual engine of mentorship.
Within this framework, the faculty mentorship program is intentionally situated as a living practice that reinforces and evolves with the community. Rather than pairing individuals through formal assignments alone, the program weaves mentorship into ongoing structures of connection: peer dialogue circles, collaborative writing groups, transparent workload discussions, and recognition systems that value relational and inclusive work. These mechanisms position mentorship at the intersection of individual growth and collective well-being, ensuring that the benefits extend beyond mentor–mentee relations to shape departmental cultures.
By integrating mentorship within a broader community framework, the paper discusses how relational equity becomes the condition for sustained engagement and institutional transformation. Community thus functions simultaneously as the soil that nourishes mentoring relationships and the structure that sustains them over time.