Industry Mentors Research Articles

NSF S-STEM Program - Supporting Undergraduate Cohorts of Career-Ready Engineering and Science Scholars (SUCCESS) Project at WVU Tech – Year 1 updates

The goal of the SUCCESS project is to recruit, retain, and graduate low-income STEM students with high motivation and entrepreneurial mindset that will increase the likelihood of employment in technology-based businesses and/or the creation of technology-based start-up ventures in the region. The program will contribute to society by increasing the number of career-ready STEM graduates from low-income and underrepresented populations and strengthening the pipeline of qualified engineers and scientists, improving the home state, the Appalachian region, and the U.S. economic competitiveness. So far, the project provided scholarships to eight (8) student “scholars” for the cohort in year 1. We are currently in the process of recruiting new students for the second cohort in year 2. Faculty mentors from Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Computer Science and Information Systems (CSIS) departments are regularly meeting with the scholars to ensure they are making good progress to achieve student success. To facilitate early introduction to research, entrepreneurship, and STEM careers, the scholars were assigned to industrial mentors, encouraged to attend and get involved with campus activities including career fairs, student organizations, senior design seminars, and entrepreneurship courses. SUCCESS team is regularly collecting and analyzing feedback from scholars to ensure that the necessary improvements are implemented. Every semester, scholars’ feedback is collected through pre-, mid- and post- surveys. These surveys provide insights on scholars’ course/program performance, career updates, and also the level of persistence towards their program of study and entrepreneurship minor. This project is funded by NSF DUE S-STEM Program from 2021-2026.

The pitfalls of work placement learning: perceptions of mechanical engineering students from a South African university

ABSTRACT This article reports on a qualitative multi-case study exploring the challenges mechanical engineering students experience during work placement. The study collected data from 34 purposively selected mechanical engineering students. It found that constraining learning environments, ineffective industry mentors, low quality work affordances and negative student characteristics can compromise students’ work placement learning outcomes. It suggests that the coupling of ineffective mentors and constraining learning environments tends to be associated with low quality work affordances. Industry mentors were considered ineffective if they could not perform the dual role of work supervisors and teachers. It further suggests that some student attributes can also compromise work placement learning outcomes. It found that students who are not proactive or assertive often experience low quality work affordances. To remedy these shortcomings, universities should provide pre-placement training for students and industry mentors in the form of a seminar for industry mentors and simulated work placement for students.

From Classroom to Industry: Teaching and Learning Anthropology through a Real-Life Case Study in Slovenia

This article examines an innovative approach to teaching and learning anthropology, developed within an EU Erasmus+ project PEOPLE. Learning Cycles address the mismatch between skills gained by students and the ones expected by employers in industry. It elaborates on the example of university-industry cooperation established in Slovenia, in which students of anthropology and other related disciplines worked on a real-life case study, gaining industry-relevant skills as well as ability to communicate across disciplines. The authors examine and evaluate the problem-based teaching and learning processes, in which the students, supervised by academic and industry mentors, experimented with their existing anthropological knowledge, skills and methods. By taking the learning process outside of the classroom into a research field site and industry environment of an automation and manufacturing IT company, the students gained experiences in positioning themselves as anthropologists within a research & development team, communicating their research processes and findings, and understanding the relevance and potential of their knowledge and skills in a non-academic, practical settings.

Comparing 2Years of Empowering Families to Solve Real-World Problems with AI.

Over the course of 2 years a global technology education nonprofit engaged ~ 20,000 under-resourced 3rd-8th grade students, parents and educators from 13 countries in a multi-week AI competition. Families worked together with the help of educators to identify meaningful problems in their communities and developed AI-prototypes to address them. Key findings included: (1) Identifying a high level of interest in underserved communities to develop and apply AI-literacy skills; (2) Determining curricular and program implementation elements that enable families to apply AI knowledge and skills to real problems; (3) Identifying effective methods of engaging industry mentors to support participants; (4) Measuring and identifying changes in self-efficacy and ability to apply AI-based tools to real-world problems; (5) Determining effective curricula around value-sensitive design and ethical innovation.

Unveiling business school interns' satisfaction toward online summer internship program amid COVID-19

PurposeThe objective of this research is to explore factors that influence interns' satisfaction (is) toward the e-internship program, an alternate adopted by management institutes in lieu of the regular summer internship amidst the global pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional research design with a self-reported questionnaire was conducted on business school (B-school) interns to rate the factors that contribute to their e-internship satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the responses obtained from 203 B-school interns with a diverse demographic background belonging to a government university of North India. Convenience sampling was employed to get valid responses from interested respondents.FindingsResults revealed that although all the four factors under consideration, faculty mentors' preparedness (FMP), industry mentors' preparedness (IMP), interns' readiness toward online internship and interns' Internet efficacy (IIE) are significantly related to IS, industry mentors' role was found to have a major impact on the IS. The study unravels that industry mentors' interaction has a potential role in the successful implementation of e-internships.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has implications for the university as well as the companies to ponder on factors that satisfy interns during the virtual internship and designing an effective internship program by having a collaborative approach.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of empirical studies on internships in general and e-internship in particular, so this study fills the gap and contributes to the existing literature and provides ways to satisfy B-school interns toward e-internship by addressing the key factors.

Heritage and Conservation of Nottingham Lace through Collaboration

Nottingham is both the birthplace and the global centre of the machine-made lace industry and is home to the Nationally Designated collection of machine-made lace and machinery. In 2017 Lace Unravelled was launched with the aim to conserve the collection and connect with local ‘industry mentors’ to learn more about its objects. This led to wider collaborations and the exhibition ‘Lace Unarchived’, held at Nottingham Trent University intended to reveal the legacy of the art school, established in 1843, and its impact on the generations of lace designers it educated. This paper proposes to explore the project’s achievements, what it revealed, and what it has meant for the interpretation and understanding of the collection, and wider understanding of ‘Nottingham Lace’.

Project-based learning in a graduate course on home appliance engineering

Project-based learning is one of the popular and promising approaches in engineering education. The current study reports on a curriculum that was designed and implemented by a graduate school to help students gain knowledge and creative thinking skills through collaboration between different majors during industrial projects in a graduate course on home appliance engineering. The students selected the topics, planned the project, conducted research, produced a prototype, and presented their results under the guidance of a group of advisors consisting of professors, technical advisors, and industry mentors. A quantitative analysis showed that this approach was effective in improving the students’ attitude toward engineering. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis showed that this learning method helped students learn how to communicate and present effectively, to flexibly approach projects, and to understand the practices of industrial research. Based on the findings, the current study discusses how the project-based learning helped students advance.

Evaluation of Practice-integrated Dual Study Models in Bulgaria and Romania and Implications for Cross-border European Cooperation between Universities and Business

The paper addresses the country-specific pilot implementation of dual higher education programmes from the engineering domain in Bulgaria and Romania. The paper presents a summary of the findings from the evaluation of the pilot programmes. The data evaluated has been collected in each country by the means of a peer review in the implementing institutions with the participation of the three main stakeholder groups involved - students, academic staff and industrial mentors. Qualitative data collection tools and interpretative data evaluation methods have been applied in this research. The set of methods include table-based group exercises with each stakeholder group combining open-ended questions, semi-structured group discussions and observation. Inductive research approach has been applied in the evaluation of the collected data. Finally, the data interpretation serves to discuss the impact of the piloted dual education model in both countries and provides an outlook with regard to the cooperation in education and training at European level.

11039 Indiana CTSI High-School STEM Summer Research Program: Future opportunities from a 2020 virtual program

ABSTRACT IMPACT: o The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute K-12 STEM Outreach Program’s pivoted to a virtual program in summer 2020 which yielded novel approaches that could be retained in future years to extend the reach/impact of our pipeline program. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: o Provide students with a meaningful and safe research experience during the COVID Pandemic. o Develop new modules and approaches that could be delivered virtually. o Engage students from communities that were not possible in previous years when in person meetings were required. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: o The program has historically supported over 100 high school students per year in a summer research internship for the last 5 years. Students are placed with academic research mentors in various Schools and Departments across the IUPUI campus, and also with industry laboratories. o COVID-related restrictions required development of 100% virtual program. Key aspects of the virtual program included: cohort-based research mentor assignments with 1-4 mentees matched per research mentor, research projects that could be conducted virtually, heavy engagement of high-school teachers to facilitate the research experience with cohorts of mentees, a more rigorous virtual seminar series that included new modules such as COVID-specific programming and thus enhancing public education about COVID. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: o The program served 130 students in summer 2020. o We were able to recruit new faculty and industry mentors involved in data science research. As a result, we have now increased our mentor pool to serve more students in the future. o Because student participation was virtual, we were able to accept students from further distances (up to 120 miles away) across the state. We were also able to accept local economically disadvantaged students that may have not been able to participate because of lack of reliable transportation. o A positive unanticipated outcome was that mentees relationships with the mentors was established virtually thus increasing the potential for students to remain engaged in their research. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: o Adapting to a virtual platform provided research experience to high school students during a time when traditional approaches were not possible. Given some research experiences do not require in-person activities, this newly established model could be used moving forward to allow more statewide engagement in research experiences.

The significance of knowledge readiness for co-creation in university industry collaborations

ABSTRACT This study explores value co-creation in university industry collaborations. The study is inspired by the constructivist approach to grounded theory and self-ethnography and based on interviews with 27 informants (eleven industry mentors and 16 academics) engaged in university industry collaborations. The findings suggest that co-creation depends on knowledge readiness and knowledge readiness develops through an interplay between temporary geographical and cognitive proximity. This study contributes to the existing literature on value co-creation, university industry collaborations, and proximity as follows: first, we shed light on the use of the co-creation perspective to enhance understandings of how value can be co-created in university industry collaborations. Second, we introduce the concept of knowledge readiness and demonstrate that co-creation in university industry collaborations between academics and industry mentors rests on knowledge readiness. Knowledge readiness concerns knowledge use and develops in the interplay between temporary geographical and cognitive proximity. We describe knowledge readiness as a sub-dimension of cognitive proximity. Knowledge readiness takes time to develop and is important for value co-creation and, subsequently, innovation in university industry collaborations.

The role of work-integrated learning in preparing journalism students for the workplace

Over a broad spectrum, South African employers complain about the workplace readiness of newly graduated tertiary students. It is against this background that this article explores the role of work-integrated learning (WIL) in preparing tertiary journalism students for a work environment. Over the years, internship programmes in academic journalism training have proved to be the most efficient way to prepare students for the workplace. At the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, a six month work-integrated learning module, in which the media and communication industry were directly involved, proved crucial for the success of the journalism training programmes and was widely accepted and welcomed by employers and industry mentors. This article investigates the importance of preparation for WIL in the field of journalism. It further examines how undergraduate journalism students perceive the WIL programme and how they work towards rendering themselves employable in the media industry. The findings indicate that a combination of theory and practical training is important in journalism education to produce graduates who are work ready.

Mentoring PhD students working in industry: Using hermeneutics as a critical approach to the experience

While there is abundant research looking at the impact of mentoring in academic environments, inquiry into and the construction of knowledge from the experience of mentors has remained limited. This is mainly because of the methodological difficulty that is inherent in the study of mentoring experiences. The authors address this difficulty by using hermeneutics as a research method, and developing a learning framework based on the Laurillard conversational framework to reflect on a mentor’s journey throughout her experience of mentoring a group of PhD students working in industry. From this we learn that mentoring working PhDs is a common goal focused learning partnership between all actors involved. This partnership is defined by the actors and the forms of interaction within the partnership, and is enabled by the mentor’s availability and capabilities. The paper also demonstrates how hermeneutics can be used as a robust research method to study the many subjective meanings of professional mentoring – meanings that are challenging to translate into transferable knowledge for ourselves and others to learn from. In particular, the authors wish to encourage colleagues and readers to use hermeneutics as a critical approach to explore complex, human-made academic–industrial collaborative mentoring practices from different perspectives and to produce a new understanding of the potential of alternative academic–industrial collaboration links.

An application of the mentoring framework to investigate the effectiveness of mentoring programs between industry mentors and student mentees in hospitality

This research examines the perceptions of alumni mentors working in the hospitality industry, along with hospitality students as mentees, through a four-stage mentoring program framework: initiation; goals and action plans; cultivating the relationship; and evaluating the relationship. Industry alumni mentors and student mentees from a leading hotel management school at an Australian university were selected to provide a rich illustration of the mentoring program. Data were collected through interviews of 48 mentees and 14 industry mentors (response rate of 45%). The findings illustrate that mentoring relationships enable mentees to build knowledge and skills, develop networking opportunities and build confidence. The application of the four-stage mentoring program framework provides several theoretical and applied contributions. Namely, a formal matching process enhances the initiation of a mentoring program, preparation and goal setting sets the stage for positive relationships, emotional and professional support cultivates commitment to mentoring relationships, and a mentoring program allows for valuable self-reflection.

ENGAGING SCHOOL STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS WITH THE PRACTICE OF STATISTICS

This paper describes a national statistics-oriented project-based learning activity, which has been delivered annually for five years in Australia and the outcomes of a particular collaboration of this initiative with the discipline of environmental sustainability. The national initiative engages primary- and secondary-school students from varied backgrounds and education levels in quantitative-based investigations. It develops key future workplace skills aligned with national school-curriculum outcomes and motivates students by enabling them to take the lead, determine the context, collaborate, investigate, and create. An underlying delivery model connects primary- and secondary-school students with tertiary educators, industry, and the practice of statistics. A pre-post cross-sectional study revealed significant improvements in students’ and teachers’ confidence with, and awareness of, the field of statistics. Australian school teachers are saying, “21st Century learning at its best” and “motivates and engages students.” Industry mentors are saying, “provides students a unique opportunity.” Students are saying, “engaging, educational and enjoyable.” The activity has engaged some eighty schools, and annually several hundred students participate. First published February 2020 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives

A Dynamic Model of Mentoring for Hospitality Leadership Development

Mentoring programs have become mainstay methods of developing leadership skills in the hospitality and tourism context. The following provides the theoretical foundation and overview of a mentoring program implemented for a blended graduate hospitality management program. This provides a model for others seeking to create hybrid mentoring for leadership development. Through structured reflection assignments and industry mentors, the Mentor EDGE program has countered many of the potential drawbacks of traditional mentoring programs, particularly in the online space.

Mentoring for employability: a state-level impact study

Purpose Industry mentoring has been repeatedly called out in sector reports on research training in Australian Universities as an effective way to develop PhD capacity and capabilities during research degrees (ACOLA, 2016; NOUS, 2017). Despite the understood importance of this type of experiential development, there is little published evidence on how effective mentoring is to develop the capabilities linked to improved employability. The University of South Australia developed the industry mentoring network in STEM (IMNIS) Impact Evaluation Instrument (IIEI) to capture advanced self-assessed data from mentees and demonstrate what impact the IMNIS program has on developing industry-relevant knowledge and skills in PhD participants. In 2017, the three universities in South Australia implemented a state-wide study using the IIEI to understand the impact of the national IMNIS scheme on the South Australian cohort. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a case study on the impact of mentoring on PhD students during the IMNIS program. A self-assessed, competency-based study design has been used to collect pre, mid and post experience data, which measures the extent to which objectives of the IMNIS program are met. The evaluation of the results, using the Vitae Impact Framework (Vitae, 2012), seeks to understand the development of mentees’ skills and knowledge as a result of their mentoring experience to support program development and build an evidence base of impact. Findings This paper presents the 2017/2018 results from the South Australian IMNIS impact evaluation. Through analysis of the three data sets, findings show that skills and knowledge have been developed in mentees as a result of the program. Originality/value This study provides an extended approach to the existing evaluation undertaken in the national IMNIS program. The IIEI is now available for other universities to use as a method for extended evaluation of their IMNIS program or potentially other WIL opportunities, providing an opportunity for institutional and national benchmarking.

Leaving the lab in graduate school?

Career Development The academic system cannot support the current volume of Ph.D. students, and the lack of training in transferrable skills during graduate school compounds this problem. To investigate the efficacy of internships as career exploration tools, Chatterjee et al. used a cohort model where graduate students completed one internship as part of the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training program. Participants described having learned marketable skills, or CV builders, that they predicted would help differentiate them in the job market. Additionally, participants described a variety of ways that they were able to transfer their industry learning back to their academic and research lab context. Perhaps most valuable were the industry mentoring and networking opportunities, which help show students that there is more than one way to be a scientist. CBE Life Sci. Educ. 18 , ar20 (2019).

Exploring the Impact of Formal Internships on Biomedical Graduate and Postgraduate Careers: An Interview Study.

Graduate students and postdocs in science, technology, engineering, and math fields are faced with a wide range of career paths to employment, but they are often not trained to effectively pursue these opportunities. The lack of career management skills implies long tenures in graduate school for many students, especially as tenure-track positions in academia dwindle. At our university, we used a cohort model in which graduate students and postdocs were encouraged to apply to the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training program (BEST under the aegis of the National Institutes of Health) that provided opportunities to gain career management skills, engage in career exploration, and complete at least one formal internship. In this interview study of the BEST trainees, we investigated the efficacy of internships as career exploration tools and associated outcomes. Our findings show that internships were seen as effective career exploration and self-development vehicles that influenced participants’ long-term career goals. Graduate students and postdocs reported gaining transferable knowledge and skills, in addition to receiving valuable industry mentoring and networking opportunities.

Using hackathons to teach management consulting

ABSTRACTIn the current article, the already existing process of hackathons was used to teach management or organisational consulting. Two separate events were conducted with dozens of students working in teams for twelve straight hours to solve real organisational challenges. Results from post-event surveys indicate that participants − students, faculty, industry mentors and company representatives – were highly satisfied with these intense experiential learning events, both due to their educational value and the contribution of the solutions for the organisations if further developed.

Use of an Interdisciplinary Student Medical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program to Create Affordable Global Health Care Solutions.

Bench to Bedside is a 7-month-long medical innovation and entrepreneurship program at the University of Utah in which teams comprising students from various disciplines work together to identify health care problems and develop novel technology solutions. Student teams are provided a small prototyping budget, access to device development workshops, prototyping facilities, and expert faculty and industry mentors. Teams then compete for seed funding at the Bench to Bedside competition at the end of the program. In 2014, we created global health-specific resources, mentorship, guidance, and award incentives as a means to drive global health technology development in the program and then studied our impact after 6 years. We reviewed program data collected continuously between 2011 and 2018 to evaluate the impact of global health incentive initiatives on the development of global health-related technologies. We quantified the number of global health teams based on both team-declared data and objective evaluation of each competing technology. The initiation of global health technology incentives was associated with an annual overall doubling of teams pursuing the development of global health-related technologies from an average of 11.4% to 24.8% ( P = .003). A student medical technology innovation program designed to address global health needs is an effective means of generating new solutions to improve global health care. The use of global health-specific awards and mentors raised awareness of the need for affordable global solutions and incentivized teams to pursue development.