Abstract: In this paper, we describe and evaluate a graduate mentoring program named “First ChEnnections,” organized by the department of chemical engineering and later expanded to all engineering departments at a large, public research institution in the Southwest U.S. The main goal of this program was to develop a community to support first-year PhD students in navigating challenges related to entering graduate school, especially those exacerbated by pandemic-related social distancing. The program aimed to develop research and engineering identities, augment sense of belonging, improve perception of institutional climate, and increase awareness of available resources for first-year doctoral students. The program evaluation is based on student reflections and pre- and post-surveys. The data analysis shows that the program helped foster research identity and sense of belonging. The program also facilitated students’ adjustment to life in a new city and to graduate school in general. Participant feedback and evaluation results prompted the School of Engineering to implement similar programs in all its engineering departments during the academic year 2021-2022, with positive results reported here. The contribution of this paper is to describe multiple components of a graduate-level mentoring program and to add to the body of evidence supporting the efficacy of mentoring programs for engineering graduate students.
DOI: 10.18260/3-1-1153-36070
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