Diversity in STEM May Lie in Peer Mentorship

A new paper published in Nature Communicationsby at the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that when first-year female STEM students are mentored by student peers, the positive ripple effect lasts throughout their undergraduate years and into their postgraduate lives, enhancing the mentee's subjective experience as well as objective academic outcomes.

The work shows that before success comes connection between the student and others in woman’s peer community. From high-quality peer relationships within the academic environment, especially relationships with peers who share a common identity, comes the confidence and motivation to persist, which lasts for a very long time, powering that student through her academic and early professional career.

Representational diversity contributes to better science and engineering in the public interest. The more varied the STEM students, the more likely they are to strive to solve research problems connected to social problems that are ignored in today's science. They also may have insights into research problems that fall in others' blind spots.

Source: sciencedaily.com