Mentoring to enhance diversity in STEM and STEM-intensive health professions

Abstract

Effective mentoring is essential for promoting student success in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Engaging students in mentored learning communities and encouraging them to participate in research can promote retention in STEM. This is especially true for students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in these fields, including students from educationally- or socioeconomically-disadvantaged backgrounds. Purpose This manuscript is a scholarly perspective on the crucially important topic of mentoring in STEM and the STEM-intensive health professions (STEM+). Our purpose is to share our understanding of this subject as a means to mitigate the persistent underrepresentation in these fields and to offer our recommendations. Materials & methods This manuscript draws on the literature and our experiences to develop recommendations for improving outcomes for diverse populations of undergraduate students who are pursuing majors in the STEM fields and aspire to careers in the biomedical sciences and/or STEM-intensive health professions. Results Undergraduate learning communities and mentored research activities promote continued engagement in STEM and also provide a competitive foundation for careers in these fields. Conclusions (1) Mentoring must be brought to scale through clearly articulated institutional and disciplinary prioritization of learning communities, with attendant assessment to monitor the impact of creating an environment that supports diverse students from underrepresented backgrounds. (2) Individual faculty members and principal investigators affiliated with academic institutions and stand-alone research facilities can enhance their mentoring role by welcoming underrepresented undergraduates into their laboratories. (3) Faculty members, administrators, and staff members must commit themselves to the success of each student who enrolls in a STEM + program, rather than accepting high rates of failure as inevitable. (4) Increased interactions between first-year students and faculty members through experiences in mentored learning communities that promote authentic engagement and discovery are key to promoting the retention of diverse populations of students who are underrepresented in the STEM + fields. (5) Learning communities can amplify the impact of an individual mentor. (6) Barriers to student success, such as weak preparation from high school courses, must be proactively and effectively addressed.