For faculty from certain demographics, especially minoritized faculty, mentoring experiences can play a vital role in their professional development and advancement. Structured, focused and culturally responsive mentorship helps promote enhanced research identity, a sense of belonging and self-efficacy. Offering faculty a well-designed mentoring experience can also help promote equity in higher education while broadening an institution’s diversity goals.
The Enhanced Mentoring Program with Opportunities for Ways to Excel in Research (EMPOWER) is a newly adapted mentoring program on the IU Bloomington campus between the IU Research at Indiana University and the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs (OVPDEMA) that aims to support the personal growth and professional success of minoritized faculty at IU Bloomington. The program is an extension of a current program of the same name at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IU Indianapolis).
The goal of the effort is two-fold:
• Help minoritized faculty become successful in sponsored research and scholarly activities.
• Promote professional growth and advancement of minoritized faculty.
“EMPOWER is a unique opportunity that combines elements of professional development with research development strategies to help minoritized faculty reach their career goals,” said James Wimbush, vice president for diversity, equity and multicultural affairs and Johnson Chair for Diversity and Leadership. “It is an important learning and growth experience for everyone involved."
The IU Bloomington EMPOWER experience—which begins August 1, 2023, and concludes July 31, 2024 — pairs assistant professors with tenured associate or full professors and associate professors with full professors for an entire academic year. The program also includes incentives for mentors and mentees. Mentees receive $10,000 to support research and professional development, while mentors are given $2,000 and are expected to meet 30 hours with the mentee during the academic year.
The application process for the first cohort of mentors and mentees opened on April 1, 2023, and will close on June 1, 2023. Twenty pairs of mentees and mentors will comprise year one of the program, funded through an investment of $240,000 from IU Research.
Research shows that minoritized faculty are less likely to be in effective mentoring relationships and that inadequate mentoring poses obstacles to obtaining funding. Therefore, throughout the EMPOWER Bloomington experience, mentors are charged with helping their mentees develop an agenda for research and creative activities. Mentors then assist mentees with application submissions for external grant funding.
“For faculty members who are just getting their start in conducting research, EMPOWER can play a crucial part in their success,” notes Fred Cate, vice president for Research at IU. “The connections, mentoring opportunities and networking provided through the program are both inspiring and empowering while increasing equity and promoting professional advancement for minoritized faculty.”
Pamela Braboy Jackson, OVPDEMA’s associate vice president for Faculty and Belonging, is spearheading the launch of the Bloomington program and says the effort is another way for IU to support minoritized faculty and to move the needle on diversifying faculty members who are underrepresented in their academic areas. Braboy Jackson will work in close partnership with IU Research, including Assistant Vice Chancellor of Research Development at IU Indianapolis, Etta Ward, and Assistant Vice Provost of Research at IU Bloomington, Sherry Knighton-Schwandt, to implement and manage the program.
Over the past decade, the IU Indianapolis EMPOWER effort has helped participants garner over $16 million in external grant funding and awards. In addition, the experience is helping many participants reach important professional goals, including tenure and promotion.
In addition, the IU Indianapolis program’s success has led to a collaboration with the University of Maine, where the EMPOWER model was adapted and launched two years ago with the assistance of the Indianapolis IU Research team. Braboy Jackson said the long-term goal is to replicate the mentoring program at additional IU campuses and non-IU institutions.
Program Requirements
- Full-time tenure-eligible assistant professors and untenured associate professors from all schools and units at IU Bloomington are eligible to apply as mentees. All full-time tenured associate professors or professors from all schools and units at IU Bloomington are eligible to apply as mentors.
- Full-time tenured associate professors from all schools and units at IU Bloomington are also eligible to apply as mentees. All full-time tenured professors from all schools and units at IU Bloomington are eligible to apply as mentors.
- Mentors must submit a letter of support from the department head or dean.
More information about IU Bloomington EMPOWER is available online.