Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives

Becky Wai-Ling Packard, Mary E. Woolley Professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College, has studied mentoring and STEM persistence for 30 years. She is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Google, and Microsoft.

• Introduction PART I 1. Map the Landscape 2. MDraft an Initial Mentoring Plan 3. Revise with Intention PART II 4. What Works (and why) During the Transition to College 5. What Works (and why) During the Transition to a STEM Major 6. What Works (and why) When Moving Through a STEM Major 7. What Works (and why) During the Transition to a STEM Profession PART III 8. Preparing Mentors for Difficult Conversations 9. Building a Culture of Mentoring Conclusion

“Becky Packard has created a brilliant guide to program design and implementation. The ideas – the concept of transitions, landscape mapping, revising with intention, department micro-strategies – are compelling, comprehensively annotated, and lead to lessons applicable to topics including but not limited to mentorship. This book is a must-read for anyone aspiring to effect lasting change in education.”David Asai, Former Senior Director for Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute"Packard delivers an evidence-based resource guide for STEM educators seeking actionable strategies to strengthen their mentoring practices. This book provides a strong foundation for understanding mentoring, navigating its broader landscape, and developing plans that support effective mentoring across multiple scenarios."Joi L. Mondisa, Associate Professor of Industrial & Operations Engineering and Engineering Education and Research Program Director at the University of Michigan“This timely second edition is a practical and deeply encouraging guide for building more intentional mentoring cultures in STEM. Authoritative without being overbearing and expert without being inaccessible, it meets administrators, department chairs, and faculty wherever they are, offering context-sensitive guidance to help students grow, persist, and thrive.”Sheila Jaswal, Professor and Chair of Chemistry, Amherst College“As the Dean of STEM at Oakton Community College, I have seen first hand the disconnect that exists between STEM culture and traditionally underrepresented students. I am convinced that establishing a mentoring ecosystem and emphasizing growth-based approaches for both students and mentors is crucial. This book will be... guiding our work to achieve a truly equitable STEM culture at Oakton.”Jim Rabchuk, Dean of STEM, Oakton College“As a faculty member, former NSF program officer, and principal investigator of multiple STEM scholarship and student success initiatives, I have found Dr. Becky Packard's book to be one of the most practical mentoring resources available to STEM faculty.I used this book extensively to train faculty mentors, deepen conversations about supporting students from diverse backgrounds, and strengthen our mentoring practices. I can honestly say it is one of the most useful resources I've come across on mentoring in higher education. What makes the book so valuable is that it is grounded in research but written for people doing the work. Many STEM faculty are trained as disciplinary researchers, not in mentoring or student development, and this book helps bridge that gap. Dr. Packard provides evidence-based strategies, realistic scenarios, and concrete tools that help faculty better understand their students' experiences, respond intentionally, and become better faculty mentors.The second edition builds on an already outstanding resource with timely updates, expanded examples, and practical guidance for today's higher education environment. I consider it essential reading for faculty, department leaders, and administrators committed to improving student success, persistence, and belonging in STEM.I would highly recommend this book to anyone working to improve student success, persistence, and belonging in STEM.”Olivia Long, Professor of Biochemistry, St. Vincent College“The first edition of this book served as a foundational text for what became the STEM Bridge Program – an NSF-funded project I led serving students transferring from Pima Community College into University of Arizona STEM majors. With inclusive mentoring as a core component of our efforts, our 90% success rate for low-income community college students completing bachelor’s degrees in STEM would not have been possible without Packard’s insights. Our team found ourselves going back again and again to the text to inform the conceptualization and planning of our initiative, as well as several years of implementation and evaluation. I am thrilled that this second edition adds more detail and context along with the same rich and robust practical guidance offered in the first edition. For anyone who desires success with mentoring underrepresented students in STEM within the complex ecology of higher education, this is a must read.”Regina Deil-Amen, Dean of the College of Education and Professor of Higher Education and Sociology, University of Arizona, Principal Investigator for Bridging Faculty and Student Cultures: Culturally Responsive Support for STEM Students Transferring between Two- and Four-Year Hispanic Serving Institutions, National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) Award