Building Diversity in STEM Through Mentoring and Outreach

www.pathwaystoscience.org

Building Diversity in STEM Through Mentoring and

Outreach

Ashanti Johnson, PhDInstitute for Broadening Participation

Presented on May 26, 2011

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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

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Mentoring and Outreach Activities• Virtual

• Face to Face

• National • Networks

• Local

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www.pathwaystoscience.org4

Mentoring Outreach/Capacity Building

Meetings/Organizations• Small Meetings• Conferences• Telephone Conferences• Local, Regional, National &

International Organizations

Academic Institutions • Student-based• Faculty-focused


Nationwide VirtualOutreach & Mentoring Efforts:

Mentor NetMPOWIRNCFDD

MS PHD’S in Earth System Science

Pathways to Ocean Sciences

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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

http://www.mentornet.net/


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/

http://mpowir.org/


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

http://www.facultydiversity.org/


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

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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

http://www.msphds.org/



Virtual and Face to Face Mentoring: MS PHD’S in Earth System Science

ESS Exposure• Participation in ESS meetings &

conferences• Visits to NSF, NASA, NOAA, EPA, USGS &

other ESS-focused facilities• Opportunities and Funding

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

Mentoring Relationships• Among peers, researchers &

educators • Virtual community

• Community Forum• Web video conferencing• Listserv• Facebook• Voice over IP


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


• 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

MS PHD’S Face to Face Mentoring Opportunities


Pathways to Ocean SciencesCORE 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

http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/oceanscience.asp


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




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


Virtual Toolsfor Mentoring:

Social Networking ToolsCommunity Forums

BlogsVoice Over IP sessions

Webcam SessionsResources

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Social Networking ToolsUse Facebook to promote programs, network and sustain mentoring relationships

between students and Faculty/Administrators

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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pathways-to-Science-Post-Doc-Opportunities/50261104217


http://www.msphds.org/forum/index.php

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6275869587&ref=mf


On-line Mentoring Manual


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


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)


“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


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


The Institute for Broadening Participation

P.O. Box 607Damariscotta, ME 04543

1-866-593-9103

Ashanti JohnsonExecutive Director

[email protected]

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Building Diversity in STEM Through Mentoring and Outreach

Documents

mentoring community

mentoring program

face outreach

faculty development

communitybased program

outreach activitiesvirtualface

graduate student

small organization