Supporting Graduate Students in STEM

In average, PhD students in STEM spend 5 and a half years doing research prior to getting their degrees. This length of time may increase this coming year due to COVID and COVID 2020 related shutdowns.

Compare to other PhD students, graduate students in STEM spend a significant amount of times closely interacting with faculty members (in the lab, in class or at conferences); however graduate student often feels disconnected and alone. In addition, some graduate programs have a large number of international students creating an even bigger disconnect caused by cultural differences and lack of appropriate support. Importantly, international students and minority students are among the more vulnerable group due to many factors (US visa status, limited resources...). Therefore, In order to help support and educate graduate (minority) students, peer mentorship might be key. Mentorship, specifically peer mentorship, will provide the appropriate emotional support to foster grit through the ups and downs of graduate school. Teaching graduate students with appropriate mentorship skills has become imperative over the years, this skill can greatly benefit them in the long run, especially if they plan to stay in academia.

I've met great scientists who were horrible mentors in academia, leading to frustrations during PhD training. Graduate student want to feel supported intellectually, but principal investigators (PIs) don't know how (sometimes don't care) to provide appropriate support to graduate students. That's why peer mentorship become important, but effective peer mentorship needs to be taught in order to be effective.

Importantly, due to the power dynamic that exist between student and PIs, mentoring a graduate student can gets complicated; emphasizing more and more the important for peer mentorship. Let's find ways to help each other. Mentoring is hard, it is a gift that requires patience and skill; it needs to be taught in graduate school.

In a perfect world, proper peer mentorship can create a better lab environment that support academic growth for graduate students, and this system will result in appropriate intellectual and emotional support for trainees to prosper in academia. Minority students and students of color (including international students) can benefit greatly from learning about mentorship skills as well, because in most cases they become, by default, a leader in their own communities.

Perhaps, you should give it a try!

Be a mentor to someone in your graduate program this year, Let's support each other.

Immediate benefit of appropriate peer mentorship

1. Support students by helping them identify the best lab that fit their intellectual needs.

2. Help sponsor a better environment for graduate students overall.