Networked Mentorship and Cultural Integration: Understanding Indigenous Motivation and Persistence in STEM

Indigenous scholars remain severely underrepresented across STEM disciplines, particularly at the faculty level. To address these challenges, the Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society (AISES) developed the Lighting the Pathway to Faculty Careers (LTP) program, a culturally relevant mentorship initiative supporting Indigenous scholars' persistence and success in STEM. This cross-sectional study examined how participation in the LTP program shapes scholars' experiences of support, identity integration, and career intentions. Results showed that scholars who endorsed both STEM and Indigenous values and experienced harmony between these identities reported stronger connections and greater access to social capital. Central community figures, often women faculty, played key mentorship roles and fostered mutual support. Findings highlight associations between mentorship network characteristics and participant outcomes. Broader mentorship networks were associated with more distributed and diverse sources of guidance, connection, and cultural affirmation. Stronger networks and higher social capital were linked to greater intentions to persist in STEM and to incorporate Indigenous identities and knowledge into future scholarly work. This study advances understanding of mentorship in STEM by examining how support operates within a broader network of relationships in an Indigenous culturally relevant context.