Implementing a Peer Role Model Program in College Calculus Classes to Broaden Women’s Participation in STEM

Abstract

In this paper we provide a detailed account of how to implement a peer role model (PRM) program similar to the one that we developed at San Diego State University (SDSU) to broaden participation of college women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). In particular, we summarize our findings of the PRM program’s best practices, explaining how we recruit, select, and train PRMs, and giving a protocol for successful presentation and implementation of the program. We begin with some background information so that readers understand the rationale for developing the PRM program. We then offer a step-by-step guide to building a PRM program, so that educators and practitioners have a clear guide to follow when implementing their own PRM program. Our PRM program was facilitated by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF DRL 1535117) and the strong support from the mathematics department at SDSU. We recognize that not everyone interested in implementing their own PRM program has access to the same resources and that institutions may differ in the structure of their calculus sequence; hence, in the discussion section we provide some suggestions for how the PRM program’s methodology might be adapted and scaled to other institutions.