Mentornet: E-Mentoring for Women Students in Engineering and Science

MentorNet (www. MentorNet. net), the E-Mentoring Network for Diversity in Engineering and Science, addresses the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). MentorNet offers a multiinstitutional, structured, electronic mentoring (e-mentoring) program that pairs undergraduate and graduate students, primarily women, with professionals and supports them through e-mentoring relationships of specified lengths. The program evaluations established that over 90% of the participants would recommend MentorNet to a friend or colleague. The e-mentoring program allowed participants to establish satisfactory and beneficial e-mentoring relationships based on investments of approximately 20 minutes per week; in between more serious exchanges, email exchanges that included light-hearted social interactions and jokes were an important aspect of sustaining e-mentoring relationships. Participation in MentorNet increased the students' self-confidence in their f elds; desire to obtain work in industry, national laboratories, or national agencies; and intent to pursue careers in their fields. Three years of evaluation results support the need for and efficacy of the program.