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Building Diversity in STEM Through Mentoring and Outreach

Building Diversity in STEM Through Mentoring and Outreach. Ashanti Johnson, PhD Institute for Broadening Participation Presented on May 26, 2011. IBP’s Mission. To make education and careers in science more accessible to students, particularly underrepresented groups

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Building Diversity in STEM Through Mentoring and Outreach

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  1. Building Diversity in STEM Through Mentoring and Outreach Ashanti Johnson, PhD Institute for Broadening Participation Presented on May 26, 2011

  2. IBP’s Mission • To make education and careers in science more accessible to students, particularly underrepresented groups • To support teachers, faculty and administrators as they work to include students from a variety of backgrounds in their programs • To foster an on-going exchange of ideas and resources between individuals and institutions who are working to navigate their future in the STEM fields 2

  3. Mentoring and Outreach Activities • Virtual • Face to Face • National • Networks • Local 3

  4. Mentoring Outreach/Capacity Building • Meetings/Organizations • Small Meetings • Conferences • Telephone Conferences • Local, Regional, National & • International Organizations • Academic Institutions • Student-based • Faculty-focused

  5. Nationwide Virtual Outreach & Mentoring Efforts: Mentor Net MPOWIR NCFDD MS PHD’S in Earth System Science Pathways to Ocean Sciences 5

  6. Geoscience Student-Focused Virtual Mentoring Initiative • MentorNet is a 13-year-old nonprofit working to help students in engineering and science achieve their career goals by matching them with mentors in industry. • Mentor - protégé interaction via email • Duration is for 8 months • Time commitment is 15 minutes a week • www.mentornet.net

  7. Virtual Mentoring Initiative for Women in Physical Oceanography • MPOWIR (Mentoring Physical Oceanography Women to Increase Retention) is a community-based program that provides mentoring to physical oceanographers from late graduate school through their early careers. • Features: • Website resources • Mentor groups • Blog • Forums at major meetings and the Pattullo Conference for female early career scientists • http://mpowir.org/

  8. Virtual Mentoring Program for Faculty • National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity is a professional development, training, and mentoring community works with colleges, universities, organizations, and individuals towards one goal: helping new faculty members make a successful transition from graduate student to professor. • Faculty Success Program: • 15 Community calls • 15 Small group accountability calls • 3 one-on-one sessions • 15 Monday Motivator & Mid-Week Encouragement messages • MP3 & summaries of all community calls • Exclusive faculty success program online forum • Free access to all NCFDD tele-workshops • www.facultydiversity.org

  9. Mentoring and Professional Development • MS PHD’S (Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science) • National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematics • We use digital tools to supplement face-to-face mentoring activities: • web forums • list-serv • online application forms & review process • VOIP and video-cams • www.msphds.org 9

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  11. Virtual and Face to Face Mentoring: MS PHD’S in Earth System Science • Mentoring Relationships • Among peers, researchers & educators • Virtual community • Community Forum • Web video conferencing • Listserv • Facebook • Voice over IP • Networking Opportunities • ESS researchers • ESS educators • Federal agency program officers • Professional society representatives • Peers & near-peers • Professional Development Opportunities • Academic/professional goal setting & strategic planning activities • Information regarding future funding, education opportunities, career opportunities, & resources • Brown bag discussions on academic & career-related topics • Actual and virtual mini-workshops • ESS Exposure • Participation in ESS meetings & conferences • Visits to NSF, NASA, NOAA, EPA, USGS & other ESS-focused facilities • Opportunities and Funding

  12. Mentor/Mentee Relationships • Support from peers, junior- and senior-level researchers, and educators committed to facilitate participation of minorities in the ESS • Each participant has access to: • Program Mentor • Individual Science Meeting Mentor • Near Peer Mentor • Peer and Staff Support • Face to Face mentoring experiences, supported by virtual interaction

  13. MS PHD’S Face to Face Mentoring Opportunities • Students participate in three phases designed to facilitate professional development, mentoring and networking activities • The MS PHD’S community provides a supportive mentoring environment in which participants develop strategies and professional skills necessary to excel in Earth System Sciences

  14. Pathways to Ocean Sciences CORE GOALS: • To support and increase diversity in NSF Ocean Sciences REUs, by fostering an ongoing exchange of ideas and resources • To make careers in Ocean Sciences more accessible and attainable for underrepresented students • To assist REU participants in bridging to graduate programs • To track REU participants as they progress along their educational pathway http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/oceanscience.asp

  15. EARLY STAGES: • Pool and share the knowledge of the OS REU community on diversity practices; profile inspirational student and faculty leaders in the OS community; outreach to potential REU participants • Development of the Pathways to Ocean Sciences web portal

  16. Tips for Developing a Successful Mentoring Program • Identify a clear purpose and make sure the design supports it • Enlist support at all levels -- support lends credibility • Establish measurable goals and objectives • Develop guidelines • Identify the targeted audience • Develop a plan and criteria for the recruitment and screening of mentors/protégés • Outline documentation requirements -- Some form of documentation is recommended for assessing the effectiveness of the mentoring relationships. • Consider piloting the program on a small scale • Publicize the program broadly • Offer training to mentors and protégés • Define mutual expectations & goals for the mentoring relationship -- Realize that goals may change as the mentoring relationship develops; build enough flexibility into the program to allow for changes in course. • Set a specific duration for each mentoring relationship with definite beginning and end dates • Design and implement an evaluation and monitoring process • Recognize the accomplishments of mentors and protégés and value the contributions they make to your organization • Adapted from http://www.cs.state.ny.us/successionplanning/workgroups/Mentoring/tentips.cfm

  17. Virtual Tools for Mentoring: Social Networking Tools Community Forums Blogs Voice Over IP sessions Webcam Sessions Resources 19

  18. Social Networking Tools Use Facebook to promote programs, network and sustain mentoring relationships between students and Faculty/Administrators 20

  19. On-line Mentoring Manual

  20. Mentoring: A Case Study’s Son Album, 2002)

  21. Support System/Mentoring Sources • Family & Confidants (mentors) • Study Groups (near peer mentoring) • Church (pastors served as mentors) • Organizations (academic field-centered, culturally-centered, community service and professional societies) (mentors and near peer mentors) • fellowships, graduate assistantships, internships (mentors and near peer mentors) • University faculty members, postdocs and research scientists (mentors)

  22. “Reaching Back and Paying Forward” • Opportunities for others • Since receiving my PhD I have: • received more than $10 Million in federal grants for the purpose of helping minority students achieve their academic and professional dreams • provided 60+ minority students with $30K/year fellowships to attend graduate school at University of South Florida • Graduated 2 M.S. students and 2 Ph.D. students in Marine Science (all are URM’s; 3 are women) at University of South Florida • Provided 175 minority students with professional development and travel opportunities (across the US, Alaska, Hawaii, West Indies, Puerto Rico, China, Germany, S. Korea, Japan) • Mentored/encouraged/assisted students at all academic levels • Volunteered for K-12 outreach-related activities, including career days, science fairs, etc. • Assisted new PhD recipients in achieving their professional goals

  23. Examples of K-12 and Public Community Impact/Role Modeling • Local Television News Stories- ABC Action News February 2010 Feature Story; Fox 13 "Dr. Ashanti Johnson is "What's Right with Tampa Bay" March 2010 Feature Story • News Paper Articles- Featured in 8 newspaper articles in Florida and Maine in 2010 • K-12 Text Books- Profiled in 5 marine /environmental science text books for students in the US and New Zealand • Websites- Profiled in 8 K-12/ Community Outreach websites, including NBC’s The Grio “History Maker in the Making • Magazine- Black Enterprise Magazine’s “Top Women in STEM” article (March 2011 issue) • Presentations– Conferences, universities, K-12 classrooms, federal agencies • Recent Awards: National Academies Ocean Studies Board; Presidential Award of Excellence in Science Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring

  24. The Institute for Broadening ParticipationP.O. Box 607Damariscotta, ME 045431-866-593-9103 Ashanti JohnsonExecutive Directorapyrtle@ibparticipation.org 27

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