Using VineUp to Match Students with Alumni Industry Mentors in Engineering: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This pilot study evaluated users' perceptions of the effectiveness of the VineUp platform to match mentors from a large United States manufacturing firm and mechanical engineering students in an honors program at a small private university. Four mentor/mentee pairs were surveyed and interviewed at the end of the nine-month program. Although the VineUp platform was effective in matching mentor/mentee pairs, participants felt the process could have been done with an alternate method that was more cost effective.

Improving Mentoring in Higher Education in Undergraduate Education and Exploring Implications for Online Learning

“…Other studies also showed a positive effect from using an online tool to match mentor and student characteristics (Martin & Bok, 2015;Rees Lewis et al, 2015). In another study, mentors were not persuaded of the benefits of the specific online mentoring platform they were using but were in favor of a similar mentoring matching process through another site such as LinkedIn, Skype, or a university-created mentoring program (Halupa & Henry, 2015).…”

“…These programs may have a formal mentoring selection process, specific guidance on how mentors and mentees should interact, and follow up at the end of the program. Structured programs can help lessen concerns for mentors and mentees as new partnerships begin because expectations are established based on the program outline (Ambrose & Williamson Ambrose, 2013;Halupa & Henry, 2015). Particularly when there may be racial or cultural differences, these structured programs such as featured in the Dahlvig (2010) study, could facilitate a positive meeting experience and as one study participant described, "force people to get uncomfortable" (p. 39).…”

“…How the mentor and mentee chose to follow the mentoring program determined the satisfaction of the mentoring relationship. According to Halupa and Henry (2015), in a small study of four mentor teams, "Only one mentee/mentor pair established formal goals; the remainder did not even though this was outlined in the mentor guide all participants received. It is interesting to note the group that established the goals were more satisfied overall with the mentor/mentee relationship" (p. 110).…”

“…First was the online interaction between mentors and mentees. Most online mentoring interactions required minimal or no additional cost from mentors and students (Halupa & Henry, 2015). Online mentoring could occur through email, texting, free web services such as Zoom (Version 3.6.5;Zoom Video Communications, Inc, 2019) or Skype, and document sharing such as Google Docs.…”

“We Overwhelm Them with Hope”: How Online Mentors Can Support Online Learners

“…The research does not give specific suggestions for maximizing that personalized experience. Additional recommendations are needed regarding time and student development in the mentoring relationship, including short-and long-term goal-setting, which is cited by many as one of the most important functions of mentoring (Ambrose & Williamson Ambrose, 2013;Halupa & Henry, 2015;Houck, 2011).…”