Under the auspices of the Board on Higher Education and Workforce (BHEW) and the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (CWSEM), and in collaboration with the Board on Science Education (BOSE) and the Teacher Advisory Council (TAC), an ad hoc committee will organize a workshop that will examine the following:
What are the attributes of effective mentors and mentees in STEM education at the high school and undergraduate levels? Critical elements of a mentoring relationship include the nature of the engagement and expectations of both the mentor and mentee. Key questions to frame the workshop sessions may include the following:
To what extent can and should mentees and mentors be trained? To what extent does the training of mentees in mentorships empower them to realize the benefits of mentorship and prepare them to be future mentors themselves?
What is the role of cultural diversity in education and research mentoring relationships? What do we mean by “cultural diversity” in mentoring relationships? Are there measureable benefits of demographically-similar mentorship pairings? What happens, as is so often the case in STEM fields, when there are not enough female faculty or faculty of color to ensure those matches?
What metrics exist or can be developed to assess effective research relationships? How can we quantify “quality mentoring relationships?” By what mechanisms can we effectively measure the most successful characteristics of mentoring relationships?
Can the evidence base of what we know works in mentoring relationships drive institutional and public policies to enhance mentoring? What makes the so-called “successful” interventions sustainable?
The Academies will issue a rapporteur-authored workshop proceedings.