{"id":4890,"date":"2012-07-05T15:10:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T15:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/?p=4890"},"modified":"2015-05-14T15:23:14","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T14:23:14","slug":"summary-of-the-mentoringsci-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/2012\/07\/05\/summary-of-the-mentoringsci-series","title":{"rendered":"Summary of the #MentoringSci Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest\u00a0Soapbox Science mini-series<\/a>\u00a0has been focusing on the role of mentors in science, tying in with this year\u2019s\u00a0Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting<\/a>\u00a0where almost 600 young scientists have the opportunity to meet each other and 25 Nobel laureates.<\/p>\n

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In our series of 14 guest posts we started with a day dedicated to women in science<\/a>. Dr Meghan Groome raised some interesting questions about what is expected of a mentor:<\/p>\n

” It is relatively easy to \u201cshow someone the ropes\u201d and give advice in a crisis as mentoring often occurs via a one-on-one conversation. At some point, however, the mentor needs to take off the training wheels and have their mentee perform science in public.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Next, Helen Wollaston, the newly appointed Director of UKRC-WISE asked whether the challenges that women face are different<\/a>. Finally,\u00a0\u00a0Meghna Marjadi \u00a0discussed\u00a0The Science Club for Girls<\/a> as an example of a female-friendly mentoring project.<\/p>\n

“Science Club for Girls (SCFG) addresses the gender disparity in science by exposing young women to role models who help banish gender and racial stereotypes. Designed to increase K-12th<\/sup>\u00a0grade girls\u2019 (16-19 years old) confidence and literacy in STEM, the project provides free, out-of-school time programs that feature fun hands-on learning, teaching and leadership opportunities with adult scientists. “<\/span><\/p>\n

The following day we shifted focus to a couple of academic mentoring projects, the Journal of Emerging Investigators<\/a> and an online scheme to improve scientific literacy<\/a> via mentoring.<\/p>\n

During the series, we’ve also heard from scientists who’ve received positive mentoring<\/a> experiences, including from a high school teacher<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0graduate supervisor<\/a>. You don’t often get to choose the person who is appointed as your mentor and when the relationship breaks down, you may need to seek other support<\/a>. Malcolm shared his personal experience, confessing:<\/p>\n

“Time wore on and progress was very slow (I found out later that the synthetic route proposed was not viable). Self-doubt increased and I questioned whether or not I was in any way proficient, or even capable of a scientific career.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, you may be thinking of becoming a mentor yourself, and might appreciate these useful tips<\/a> from Dr Bosch which include how to establish trust, overcome barriers and keep communication clear and committed.<\/p>\n

“Face\u2010to\u2010face meetings help to build trust, one of the most important ingredients for a successful mentor\u2010mentee relationship. Following through on scheduled meetings and other commitments are also essential for building trust.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The full list of posts can also be found below – we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.<\/p>\n

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Summary of the #\u00a0#MentoringSci Soapbox\u00a0Science guest posts<\/strong><\/p>\n