Speakers
Description
Strong mentorship has been shown to increase mentees’ sense of STEM identity, improve student retention, and push mentees to tackle new challenges that promote professional growth. To provide equitable access to the benefits of mentorship, it is essential that we create structured and sustainable support for young scientists through mentorship programs tailored to their needs. However, minimal literature is available to guide the design of effective mentorship programs serving graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. In this talk, we will present preliminary results from our study into effective mentorship program design. Our research follows the TRIUMF Early Career Researchers Mentorship Program as a case study, which is a custom program serving undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs at TRIUMF. The program also strives to make clear the benefits that mentors receive from participating. Both academic (focus on career progression) and peer (focus on new research environment acclimatization) mentorship program streams will be examined. Preliminary results from program surveys designed to ascertain both program impact and structural success will be presented. We will also provide recommendations for designing and running a successful mentorship program, based on participant feedback.
| Keyword-1 | Mentorship |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Early career researchers |
| Keyword-3 | Student support |