Views from the field on mentoring and roles of effective networks for minority IT doctoral students

  • Authors:

  • Fay Cobb Payton;Sharon D. White

  • Affiliations:

  • North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC;North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC

  • Venue:
  • SIGMIS CPR '03 Proceedings of the 2003 SIGMIS conference on Computer personnel research: Freedom in Philadelphia--leveraging differences and diversity in the IT workforce
  • Year:
  • 2003

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

With the changing demographics of the American workforce, the National Science Foundation along with the U.S. Department of Commerce have highlighted the shortage of minorities in IT careers (http://www.ta.doc.gov/Reports/itsw/itsw.pdf). Meeting the IT skill challenge is critical and will require a multifaceted approach. One approach to this challenge is the development of mentoring networks, and a large body of knowledge has offered contributions to understanding the importance of mentoring throughout one's career. Mentoring among minorities in corporate domains has proven to be both challenging and effective for professional development and career success. Using data from a five-year period and a learning process diversity competency model as defined by Cox and Beale (1997), we discuss lessons learned from mentoring a group of under-represented Information Systems (IS) doctoral students who are members of a pipeline that will increase the number of IT professionals in business schools and in the American workforce, in general. While our lessons speak to more diversity awareness and the need for more mentors of color as well as those in the majority to enhance professional development, and in turn career success for minorities, we also speak of the challenges and rewards associated with providing mentorship during our "untenured" years in the academy.