Mentoring Minority Students in Biomedical Engineering: An Engaged Approach

There is a compelling need for a program that develops self-efficacy in Underrepresented Minority (URM) students in STEM related fields. To answer this need, a professor and lifelong mentor developed the national mentored-leadership initiative program to empower URM students at the high school and undergraduate levels in their successful pursuit of engineering careers. This objective is accomplished by actively partnering students with senior URM mentors (i.e. post-doctoral associates and faculty members) in research and professional development. Students that completed the program more likely have a firm understanding of the translational aspects of their research, enabling them to make informed career choices to maximize their expertise and biomedical interests. Ultimately, this outcome can be achieved through engaged participation in: a “mentoring incubator” and mentoring course led by URM full professor; interactive seminars and roundtable discussions with mentee “success story” resource group; sessions with biomedical group of successful URM engineering faculty; and targeted research experiences at a large research university, leveraging partnerships with agency-sponsored programs.