Exploring Personal, Relational, and Collective Experiences and Mentorship Connections That Enhance or Inhibit Professional Development and Career Advancement of Native American Faculty in STEM Fields: A Qualitative Study

Blakely Brown; Maja Pedersen; Jennifer Harrington; Annie Belcourt; Sweeney Windchief; Aaron Thomas; Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass She Kills; Otakuye Conroy-Ben; Erik Brodt; Karletta Chief; Serra Hoagland; Michelle Johnson-Jennings; Jordan Lewis; Kirsten Green Mink; Kathryn C.A. Milligan-Myhre; Matthew Calhoun; Angela Ozburn; Vanessa Simonds; Anne Des Rosier Grant; Salena Hill; Ke Wu

doi:10.1037/dhe0000376

Exploring Personal, Relational, and Collective Experiences and Mentorship Connections That Enhance or Inhibit Professional Development and Career Advancement of Native American Faculty in STEM Fields: A Qualitative Study

Blakely Brown, Maja Pedersen, Jennifer Harrington, Annie Belcourt, Sweeney Windchief, Aaron Thomas, Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass She Kills, Otakuye Conroy-Ben, Erik Brodt, Karletta Chief, Serra Hoagland, Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Jordan Lewis, Kirsten Green Mink, Kathryn C.A. Milligan-Myhre, Matthew Calhoun, Angela Ozburn, Vanessa Simonds, Anne Des Rosier Grant, Salena HillKe Wu

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mentorship programs for Native American (NA) faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields hold significant promise toward developing, recruiting, and retaining NA members of the professoriate. In 2018, a qualitative study was conducted that explored experiences, and mentoring relationships that enhanced or inhibited professional development and career advancement of NA faculty and instructors in STEM fields. The study used Indigenous Research Methodologies to coconstruct a conversational moderator’s guide aligning with Indigenous community ontology. Interview questions were developed from the existing literature and programs and the project teams’ expertise. Twenty-three NA faculty and instructors and a postdoctoral trainee in STEM fields participated in the interviews. Transcripts were coded, organized, and interpreted. Themes and subthemes were generated, which were noted for relevance to the theoretical framework. Participants described their experience working in higher education as viewed through their academic, social and cultural values, relationships, and responsibilities. Common themes included the (a) importance of peer, senior and community mentors, (b) value of oral presentation to professional development, (c) need for social connectedness and work–life balance, and (d) importance of increasing institutional knowledge about Indigenous values and research methodologies. Several themes aligned with TribalCrit, allowing for a strong critique of NA faculty mentoring by NA’s in higher education. The narratives underscore the need for institutions to deliver professional development and mentoring programs for NA faculty and for administrators to strengthen institutional supports to improve NA faculty achievement.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	14-26
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Diversity in Higher Education
Volume	17
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000376
State	Published - Jan 13 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Research reported in this publication was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Human Resource Development (HRD). This is an AGEP–T: Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate–Transformation under HRD grant numbers 1723248 (University of Montana), 1723006 (Salish Kootenai College), and 1723196 (Sitting Bull College). We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Erik Brodt’s funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce under grant number D34HP31026 and Dr. Johnson-Jennings’ funding from the National Institute of Health 1RO1DA037176-01.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Psychological Association

Keywords

Native American
STEM fields
faculty development and retention
mentoring
tribal critical race theory

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1037/dhe0000376

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Brown, B., Pedersen, M., Harrington, J., Belcourt, A., Windchief, S., Thomas, A., Kills, R. P. S. S., Conroy-Ben, O., Brodt, E., Chief, K., Hoagland, S., Johnson-Jennings, M., Lewis, J., Mink, K. G., Milligan-Myhre, K. C. A., Calhoun, M., Ozburn, A., Simonds, V., Grant, A. D. R., ... Wu, K. (2022). Exploring Personal, Relational, and Collective Experiences and Mentorship Connections That Enhance or Inhibit Professional Development and Career Advancement of Native American Faculty in STEM Fields: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 17(1), 14-26. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000376

Exploring Personal, Relational, and Collective Experiences and Mentorship Connections That Enhance or Inhibit Professional Development and Career Advancement of Native American Faculty in STEM Fields: A Qualitative Study. / Brown, Blakely; Pedersen, Maja; Harrington, Jennifer et al.
In: Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 17, No. 1, 13.01.2022, p. 14-26.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Brown, B, Pedersen, M, Harrington, J, Belcourt, A, Windchief, S, Thomas, A, Kills, RPSS, Conroy-Ben, O, Brodt, E, Chief, K, Hoagland, S, Johnson-Jennings, M, Lewis, J, Mink, KG, Milligan-Myhre, KCA, Calhoun, M, Ozburn, A, Simonds, V, Grant, ADR, Hill, S & Wu, K 2022, 'Exploring Personal, Relational, and Collective Experiences and Mentorship Connections That Enhance or Inhibit Professional Development and Career Advancement of Native American Faculty in STEM Fields: A Qualitative Study', Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 14-26. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000376

Brown B, Pedersen M, Harrington J, Belcourt A, Windchief S, Thomas A et al. Exploring Personal, Relational, and Collective Experiences and Mentorship Connections That Enhance or Inhibit Professional Development and Career Advancement of Native American Faculty in STEM Fields: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 2022 Jan 13;17(1):14-26. doi: 10.1037/dhe0000376

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abstract = "Mentorship programs for Native American (NA) faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields hold significant promise toward developing, recruiting, and retaining NA members of the professoriate. In 2018, a qualitative study was conducted that explored experiences, and mentoring relationships that enhanced or inhibited professional development and career advancement of NA faculty and instructors in STEM fields. The study used Indigenous Research Methodologies to coconstruct a conversational moderator{\textquoteright}s guide aligning with Indigenous community ontology. Interview questions were developed from the existing literature and programs and the project teams{\textquoteright} expertise. Twenty-three NA faculty and instructors and a postdoctoral trainee in STEM fields participated in the interviews. Transcripts were coded, organized, and interpreted. Themes and subthemes were generated, which were noted for relevance to the theoretical framework. Participants described their experience working in higher education as viewed through their academic, social and cultural values, relationships, and responsibilities. Common themes included the (a) importance of peer, senior and community mentors, (b) value of oral presentation to professional development, (c) need for social connectedness and work–life balance, and (d) importance of increasing institutional knowledge about Indigenous values and research methodologies. Several themes aligned with TribalCrit, allowing for a strong critique of NA faculty mentoring by NA{\textquoteright}s in higher education. The narratives underscore the need for institutions to deliver professional development and mentoring programs for NA faculty and for administrators to strengthen institutional supports to improve NA faculty achievement.",

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author = "Blakely Brown and Maja Pedersen and Jennifer Harrington and Annie Belcourt and Sweeney Windchief and Aaron Thomas and Kills, {Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass She} and Otakuye Conroy-Ben and Erik Brodt and Karletta Chief and Serra Hoagland and Michelle Johnson-Jennings and Jordan Lewis and Mink, {Kirsten Green} and Milligan-Myhre, {Kathryn C.A.} and Matthew Calhoun and Angela Ozburn and Vanessa Simonds and Grant, {Anne Des Rosier} and Salena Hill and Ke Wu",

note = "Funding Information: Research reported in this publication was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Human Resource Development (HRD). This is an AGEP–T: Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate–Transformation under HRD grant numbers 1723248 (University of Montana), 1723006 (Salish Kootenai College), and 1723196 (Sitting Bull College). We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Erik Brodt{\textquoteright}s funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce under grant number D34HP31026 and Dr. Johnson-Jennings{\textquoteright} funding from the National Institute of Health 1RO1DA037176-01. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 American Psychological Association",

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Exploring Personal, Relational, and Collective Experiences and Mentorship Connections That Enhance or Inhibit Professional Development and Career Advancement of Native American Faculty in STEM Fields: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Publisher link

Find It

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Fingerprint

Cite this