Mentoring minority engineering students: A program at Florida International University Conference

Becerra-Fernandez, I, Campbell, R, Roig, G et al. (1997). Mentoring minority engineering students: A program at Florida International University .

cited authors

  • Becerra-Fernandez, I; Campbell, R; Roig, G; Hopkins, G

authors

abstract

  • This paper describes PRISM (Program of Industry Supported Mentorships), the Florida International University mentor program. The purpose of this program was to develop and test a university-industry partnership in the College of Engineering. The participating mentors represented some of the major corporations and small firms in the South Florida area. Unlike many other mentor programs, PRISM included fifteen mentees who had grade point averages below 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. All of these mentees were minority students, including both persons of Hispanic and African descent, with a good gender representation (5 students or 33% were females). Several activities were held over a nine month period which included meetings with the mentors, a `get-to-know-you' breakfast, and a seminar where the mentors spoke about their careers and life experiences. Anecdotal responses from students, mentors, and professors have shown that the participants all found the program to be very valuable. Due to their participation in this program, the mentees have already seen a correlation between their academic work and the real-life working world.

publication date

  • December 1, 1997