Abstract

Women face barriers as they advance through STEM careers, creating a leaky pipeline. The lack of women in advanced STEM careers and disciplines creates a disadvantage for young girls looking for role models and mentors. Mentoring is established by creating a sustainable relationship that is built off of trust and provides guidance to one’s needs. Mentors provide knowledge and experience and promote safe environments for mentees to express themselves. An organized mentoring program is a way to fix the leaky pipeline. Locally, there are STEM outreach programs that provide exposure to young girls who are interested in STEM, but those programs do not provide adequate time for a sustainable mentoring relationship to be built. I have created my own mentoring program, Woo Girls Connect, and mentoring guidebook to address this issue. The goals of Woo Girls Connect are to create a sustainable mentorship and provide young girls with guidance in STEM as well as life. Woo Girls Connect unites middle school girls (grades 5-7) with mentors from the Women in STEM student organization (WiSTEM) at The College of Wooster. The mentor guidebook describes the goals of the program, what it means to be a mentor, and provides the tools for connecting with a mentee. The guidebook also discusses life beyond the program as a way of continuing the goals of Woo Girls Connect. As a result of Woo Girls Connect, local middle school girls will be connected with The College of Wooster, creating community and bringing awareness of opportunities in STEM.

Advisor

Pollock, Meagen

Department

Environmental Studies

Keywords

Mentoring program, Middle School Girls

Publication Date

2021

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2021 Madison L. Whitman