Compelling evidence exists to support the hypothesis that both formal and informal mentoring practices that provide access to information and resources are effective in promoting career advancement, especially for women. Such associations provide opportunities to improve the status, effectiveness, and visibility of a faculty member via introductions to new colleagues, knowledge of information about the organizational system, and awareness of innovative projects and new challenges.
This volume developed from the symposium "Successful Mentoring Strategies to Facilitate the Advancement of Women Faculty" held at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco in March 2010. The organizers of the symposium, also serving as the editors of this volume, aimed to feature an array of successful mechanisms for enhancing the leadership, visibility, and recognition of academic women scientists using various mentoring strategies. It was their goal to have contributors share creative approaches to address the challenge of broadening the participation and advancement of women in science and engineering at all career stages and from a wide range of institutional types. Inspired by the successful outcomes of the editors' own NSF-ADVANCE project that involved the formation of horizontal peer mentoring alliances, this book is a collection of valuable practices and insights to both share how their horizontal mentoring strategy has impacted their professional and personal lives and to learn of other effective mechanisms for advancing women faculty.