Our stories, our voices: How PhD students of color view mentoring in science and engineering graduate programs

Mentoring is one of several mechanisms the academy employs in efforts to help retain students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including those under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. While there is a plethora of mentoring programs available, few are holistically aimed at graduate students of color. This exploratory research project investigated the mentoring experiences of women of color in STEM PhD programs, their perceptions of mentoring in the STEM graduate environment, thoughts on improving the STEM mentoring for students of color, and significant attributes they considered as valuable for mentoring success. Emerging from this research is an alternative mentoring approach for students of color, an integrative mentoring apprenticeship model situated within a cognitive and cultural context.