Undergraduate peer mentoring can promote diversity and inclusion in STEM — Jan. 29, 2025

In an undergraduate setting, peer mentoring programs typically partner 3rd and 4th year students with first and second-year students via one-on-one meetings and community events to strengthen the STEM community among current students and smooth the transition for new students. Other goals of these programs are to foster a sense of engineering identity, enhance academic outcomes, and ultimately aid in student retention. Students from under-represented backgrounds in STEM can benefit from peer mentoring programs, as they may not have a strong sense of belonging within an engineering program or identify as an engineer. JEDI outcomes can be further supported via targeted mentor recruitment and training, which can be tailored to provide mentors with skills to better support and increase their effectiveness with students from a diversity of backgrounds.[1]

In a program at the University of Arkansas College of engineering, a peer mentored cohort exhibited 94 percent retention from Fall to Spring semesters vs. 74 percent for non-mentored students (with similar admission profiles) and were two times as likely to have GPAs higher than 2.5 (with a 9 percent higher GPA overall). [2]  Reported benefits to mentees include academic advising (advice on coursework and navigating the curriculum), study skills and strategies (especially in regards to forming study groups), and hearing about mentors’ experiences including their own challenges with the degree.[3]

CEAE offers a voluntary peer mentoring program for which mentees must sign up via an online application. The CMU-CU Engineering partnership program in Grand Junction also offers a peer mentor program that is integrated with two first year courses, in which interaction with peer mentors is required via class assignments. Mentors organize voluntary weekly study groups and exam study sessions for second year engineering courses. Additionally, though the BOLD Scholarships Program is not explicitly a peer mentorship program, it does foster community and connect scholars with peers.

By supporting and promoting peer mentoring programs within CEAE, we can support and retain students from a diversity of backgrounds. Explicit recruitment of peer mentors from diverse backgrounds and training of JEDI principles can also further this goal.

Best regards,

The CEAE JEDI Committee