A Virtual STEM Peer Mentoring Program

The virtual science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) peer mentorship program is a project funded by the National Science Foundation. This program is for underrepresented minority women (UMW) STEM  students at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) and Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU).

The program aims to assist UMW students at both these institutions in developing mentorship and leadership skills that are culturally responsive; STEM self-efficacy; science identities; and, ultimately to promote their STEM degree and career persistence. The overarching goal of the Virtual STEM Peer Mentorship Program is to broaden the participation of UMW in STEM fields. This Program is part of the larger eSTEM project.

The Program Overview

The Virtual STEM Peer Mentorship Program is one academic year in length and has 2 components:

1) The Peer Mentoring Training

2) The Peer Mentoring Communities

If you are not currently part of the program and interested click “Apply Now.”

Peer Mentoring Training

Before engaging in the Peer Mentoring Community Experience, both the mentor and mentee engage in an 8-module training.

All content and some images in trainings are from or adapted from Navigating the Peer Mentoring Relationship: A Handbook for Women and other Underrepresented Populations in STEM. Content and images are © 2019. Rockinson-Szapkiw, Wendt, & Wade-Jaimes. All rights reserved.

The Peer Mentoring Communities

The program also consists of peer mentor-led STEM Mentoring Communities, which will be one academic year in length (November- May). Each respective STEM Mentoring Community will consist of one peer mentor and up to three peer mentees who meet regularly. Throughout the experience, mentors and mentees will also have the opportunity to attend webinars to hear from and interact with women and ethnically and racially diverse professionals in STEM. Contact your facilitator for more information, and watch the event on YouTube after they occur.

CONTACT

Complete the contact form or email jillian.wendt@udc.edu if you have questions or comments about the program.

FUNDING

This program and its materials is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1912205. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. NSF-funding was provided to the University of the District of Columbia as primary awardee. Funding was provided to the University of Memphis and Bethune-Cookman University as subawardees.