High Retention of Minority and International Faculty Through a Formal Mentoring Program

In these economic times, retention of new faculty, particularly minority and international faculty, is a high priority. In this study, retention of new faculty from 2006 to 2013 was compared for participants and nonparticipants in a formal mentoring program. Retention was 92% for participating faculty and 58% for nonparticipating new faculty. For African‐American faculty, retention was 86% for participating and 56% for nonparticipating. Participating international faculty were retained at 100% and nonparticipating at 61%. The results indicate that mentoring programs including both individual and group mentoring provide a supportive community and self‐validation to new faculty, leading to high retention rates.