Work-in-Progress: Moving from Volunteering to Mentoring K12 Students: What Does It Take?

Engaging minority and underrepresented students in STEM fields in high school is not difficult, but providing the student with long-term outlooks in STEM fields in which the students can see themselves is very difficult. Most students do not know anyone who is currently in a STEM career. STEM professionals volunteer at a good rate, but do not serve as mentors as frequently as those in other professions. A definite key to closing the STEM graduate gap is enabling youth to view themselves in a STEM career. Mentoring helps the student bridge the gap between where they are in high school and the where they see themselves in the future. The guidance provided by a mentor through a student’s secondary academic career and transition into a post-secondary setting is critical to minority and underrepresented students due to the lack of this guidance in their social circle. High impact STEM mentoring is needed for mentors to have a lasting impact on our nation. This paper will focus on converting STEM professional volunteers into roles as mentors. This paper will describe efforts to increase the number of mentors in a mid-sized urban community. The paper will discuss the levels of commitment and the level of intensity of desired by the mentors.