Women continue to be largely under-represented in the geosciences. Female role models and mentors can play an important role in the lives of female students, especially when choosing and committing to a career path. We aim to recruit and mentor STEM undergraduate women into the geosciences through a combination of formal and informal, professional and peer mentoring. This project will recruit first-year college women interested in the geosciences (from any STEM major) from institutions in two geographic regions: the Front Range and the Carolinas. During their first year, these women will be invited to a regional mentoring workshop to 1) learn more about geoscience careers, 2) meet peers with similar academic interests, 3) gain better selfawareness of their values, strengths, and liabilities for a career in the geosciences, and 4) expand their psychological, social and institutional resources for a career in the geosciences. After the workshop, the program participants will have access to peer mentoring and resources through a web platform hosted by the Earth Science Women’s Network. Through this platform, they will also be able to interact with each other via discussion forums. In addition, they will have access to in-person mentoring with female role models via scheduled get-togethers at each institution.
This project is in collaboration with Emily Fischer (Lead PI, Colorado State), Silvia Sara Canetto (Colorado State), Paul Hernandez (WVU), Laura Sample McMeeking (Colorado State STEM Center), and Rebecca Barnes (Colorado College). Click here for the CSU press release and news article.
