Participants met virtually for the recent “This is What a Scientist/Engineer Looks Like” workshop.
Feb. 14, 2022
The UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence continued the long-standing program, “This is What a Scientist/Engineer Looks Like” with a virtual workshop held Friday, Feb. 11. The event “Mentees and Mentors Matter!” was hosted by Marguerite Bonous-Hammarth, assistant Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and focused on mentorships.
Faculty, students and staff members from several UCI offices met to share their experiences and concepts about the role of mentors and mentees, and to discuss ways to develop effective mentoring relationships.
G.P. Li, director of CALIT2 and co-founder of the “This is What a Scientist/Engineer Looks Like” program welcomed participants and reminded students that, “You are the champions. We know you are our future, but we have to nurture that future so that you can be the driver for our society.” Li also thanked the mentors for offering to share their “experiences about how to break down barriers” that continue to limit diversity in STEM careers.
This workshop “gives an opportunity to have evidence-based training and discussions about mentoring,” Bonous-Hammarth said. “We’re hoping that helps to broaden your portfolio skills whether you’re an undergraduate, graduate student, postdoctoral scholar, faculty member or staff supporting STEM experiences.”
Support Programs
Staff members from UCI’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), Stacey Nicholas Office of Access and Inclusion, and the BioSci Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion provided information about the variety of diversity and mentorship programs available on campus.
“UROPs’ mission is to integrate undergraduate students into their research culture at UCI by connecting them with faculty and graduate students to work on research projects,” says Sharon Parks, UROP director.
The Stacy Nicholas Office of Access and Inclusion serves students in both the school of engineering and the school of information & computer sciences, says, Marvin Maldonado, the office’s interim director. “Our office is structured to support incoming undergraduate students, and not only to get them to successfully complete their undergraduate degree, but also to launch them into pathways beyond. Traditionally we work with STEM students that would be considered underrepresented groups, also first-generation students,” he adds. “Mentoring is a big part of what we do.”
Greg Diggs-Yang, assistant director, Office of Access and Inclusion noted, “Our office focuses on support for graduate students and faculty that are looking to increase efforts in their own research, their proposals, and in helping with recruitment of underrepresented graduate students in ICS and engineering.”
Michael Yassa, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Biological Science, says, “we are engaged quite a bit in not just mentor training but training for our faculty, our staff and our students on various issues related to diversity equity and inclusion. We also have resources to give diversity fellowships, typically for post-doctoral students.”
Personal Experiences with Mentorships
Students, Kasey Chuang and Megha Kak, co-presidents of UCI Women in Information and Computer Sciences (WICS) spoke about their own recent experiences with mentorships programs and offered advice to fellow students.
Last summer, as a software intern at Tableau Software, Chuang was assigned two mentors. “That was my first real internship experience with a real team on a real project, and I was very lucky to have two mentors that were willing to meet with me every day,” Chuang says. Her project presented many design choices, she says, and speaking with her mentors allowed her more clarity. “I learned a lot from someone else by being able to ask questions.”
During her internship at Google, Megha Kak, had weekly check-ins with her mentors. “One helped me explore the Google culture and get to know more about other Googlers on campus,” she says. “I actually got the chance to meet some mentors before the internships.” Chen recommends that students, “figure out mentally what you want out of a mentorship experience and see if you vibe well with them, and if you’re able to be comfortable asking questions because that’s the number one thing you get out of a mentorship experiences – someone you can ask anything you want to know.”
Natascha Buswell, an assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, suggests that students consider having different mentors for different purposes. “You might have one mentor that you meet with on a weekly basis that’s helping you along a pathway or going through particularly tough time,” she says. “You might want to have a mentoring conversation with someone as a one-off experience that you can then debrief with your more common mentor,” she adds.
“Mentoring matters so much,” says Bonous-Hammarth. “It enriches the research enterprise. It promotes research identities. It promotes STEM persistence, and it provides career psychosocial support that really is invaluable.”
To learn more about diversity and mentorship programs at UCI visit Office of Inclusive Excellence.
