STEMentorship
Apply Now! The Association for Women in Science - Notre Dame chapter (AWIS) is organizing the third annual STEMentorship Program. This program focuses on connecting undergraduate women in STEM fields with graduate students for professional development, networking, and an exchange of ideas with experienced peers.
If you are interested in participating this year (2019-2020), please fill out the form below as a mentor or mentee. Sign-ups will be taken until September 25th.
What is STEMentorship?
Women with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers earn on average 30% more than those with non-STEM careers. Consequently, the gender wage gap is significantly smaller in STEM fields. However, currently women represent only a quarter of the STEM workforce. This complex issue calls for mentoring relationships that support women throughout their academic and professional experiences.
The STEMentorship Program, organized by Association of Women in Science – Notre Dame chapter (AWIS-ND), targets this issue by facilitating mentorship to female students at the University of Notre Dame (UND). For the 2017-2018 academic year, AWIS-ND was the most active graduate student group at UND, organizing 22 activities in partnership with 6 other graduate student and university groups. This yearlong initiative fulfills the mission of AWIS-ND to initiate, encourage, and engage participation of women in STEM by pairing female undergraduate students with female graduate student mentors based on individual career aspirations. With the support of the College of Science and the College of Engineering, STEMentorship creates a venue for these students to engage and explore STEM career possibilities. STEMentorship combines the leadership development foundation and the dynamic network of AWIS-ND to create sustainable mentoring relationships. Mentors will guide their mentees through individualized professional development goals. Alongside one-on-one mentoring, the program consists of meet-and-greet, monthly drop-ins and workshops, social activities, and career talks.
What are the Expectations as a Mentor?
Following are guidelines that will help you have a successful mentoring partnership.
- Initiate and maintain regular contact
- Mentors and students should commit to speaking a minimum of once per calendar month during the mentoring cycle (October 2017-May 2018). These connections may occur over email, phone, Skype, and/or in person when possible. At least one of these should be a face-to-face exchange.
- Mentors should take initiative in the relationship, contacting mentees regularly to set up meetings and find out if they need specific help.
- Mentors are required to record the meeting dates in the program check-in sheet.
- Set clear and realistic goals
- At the start of this mentoring partnership, mentors and mentees should discuss how the partnership should be structured.
- Concrete goals, roles, responsibilities, and a common schedule will be established in a mentoring partnership agreement.
- Individualize your mentorship
- Be respectful and supportive of your mentee. Get to know your mentee on an individual basis.
- Listen attentively to your mentee. Raise thought-provoking questions to help your mentee understand and articulate her motivations, accomplishments, weaknesses, etc.
- Make observations or suggestions, and offer advice on goals and activities that might lead to rewarding professional development opportunities.
- Share stories about how others made their way in the profession that might be relevant to the mentee.
- Assist your mentee in finding resources and opportunities suitable to her research and/or career interests (ie. research assistant position, summer scholarship etc.)
- Introduce and expose your mentee within your own professional circle and to circles outside the university community as relevant.
- Recognize the work the mentee has done and the progress made.
- Avoid making judgments or issuing evaluative statements.
- Work out right away any minor concerns about the relationship.
- Be responsive
- Both mentors and students are expected to return calls and emails in a timely manner (ie. two business days) to each other and the program organizers.
- Be confidential
- Keep the content of discussions within the mentoring relationship confidential. All your exchanges with your mentee--both personal and professional--are subject to the expectations of professional confidentiality. Although this confidentiality is legally limited, neither of you should discuss the contents of your discussions with anyone else without the written permission of the other.
- Honor commitments
- Respect your mentee’s privacy and time commitments. If a mentoring conversation must be cancelled, it is expected that you will do your best to communicate in advance of the meeting and reschedule.
- Evaluate the mentorship
- Mentors are committed to complete bi-annual program surveys at the end of Fall 2017 and at the end of Spring 2018.
- Terminate the mentorship
- Some relationships may end sooner than others and there is any number of different reasons for terminating a mentoring relationship. When the time comes to end your mentoring relationship, it is important to do so in a professional manner to achieve appropriate closure.
- If termination of your mentoring relationship is desired, participants are required to inform the program organizers.
- Contact the program organizers for any needed changes.
What are the Expectations as a Mentee?
Following are guidelines that will help you have a successful mentoring partnership.
- Maintain Regular Contact
- Mentors and mentees should commit to speaking a minimum of once per calendar month during the mentoring cycle (October 2017-May 2018). These connections may occur over email, phone, Skype, and/or in person when possible. At least one of these should be a face-to-face exchange.
- Set Clear and Realistic Goals
- At the start of this mentoring partnership, mentors and mentees should discuss how the partnership should be structured.
- Concrete goals, roles, responsibilities, and a common schedule will be established in a mentoring partnership agreement.
- Take advantage of your mentoring relationship
- Be respectful and courteous to your mentor. Get to know your mentor on an individual basis.
- Share your career plans and goals with the mentor, and recount your initiatives for professional development.
- Actively seek for your mentor’s observations and feedback.
- Reflect on the mentor’s observations.
- Refrain from asking your mentor for evaluative advice; rather, take advantage of the mentor’s suggestions about resources for feedback and objective evaluation.
- Be responsive
- Both mentors and students are expected to return calls and emails in a timely manner (ie. two business days) to each other and the program organizers.
- Be confidential
- Keep the content of discussions within the mentoring relationship confidential. All exchanges with your mentor--both personal and professional--are subject to the expectations of professional confidentiality. Although this confidentiality is legally limited, you should discuss the contents of your discussions with anyone else without the written permission of your mentor.
- Honor commitments
- Respect your mentor’s privacy and time commitments. If a mentoring conversation must be cancelled, it is expected that you will do your best to communicate in advance of the meeting and reschedule.
- Evaluate the mentorship
- Reflection and discussion with your mentor may be helpful for future mentoring relationships of either individual. Discuss what you have taken away from the relationship and how you plan to use this information.
- Mentees are committed to complete bi-annual program surveys at the end of Fall 2017 and at the end of Spring 2018.
- Terminate the mentorship
- Some relationships may end sooner than others and there is any number of different reasons for terminating a mentoring relationship. When the time comes to end your mentoring relationship, it is important to do so in a professional manner to achieve appropriate closure.
- If termination of your mentoring relationship is desired, participants are required to inform the program organizers.
- Contact the program organizers for any needed changes
Meet the Organizers
- Emily Amenson-Lamar - Emily is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Notre Dame, and the Outreach Chair for AWIS-ND for 2017-2018.
- Mauna Dasari - Mauna is a third year graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences. She graduated with a B.S. in Microbial Biology and a B.A. in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. She currently serves as the President of the Biology Graduate Student Organization.
- Triet Nguyen-Beck - Triet is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Notre Dame, and a NSF Graduate Research Fellow in Chemical Theory. She is a leadership fellow of the Ethical Leaders in STEM program 2016-2017, and organized STEMentorship in 2016-2017 as her practicum for the Ethical Leaders in STEM program.
- Yushan Zhang - Yushan is a fourth-year graduate student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and a leadership fellow of the Ethical Leaders in STEM program 2017-2018.
- Raquael Joiner- Raquael is a third-year graduate student in the Department of Psychology at Notre Dame, and the Psychology Department Representative for AWIS-ND for the 2017-2018 academic year.
- Elizabeth Louden - Elizabeth is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Physics at Notre Dame, and the Physics Department Representative for AWIS-ND for the 2017-2018 academic year.
- Nikki Moore - Nikki is a second-year graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Notre Dame. She is assisting with AWIS-ND Outreach for the 2017-2018 academic year.
Sponsors
Thank you to the amazing support from the College of Science and the College of Engineering.