Astronomy
So, we all know the importance of mentoring, especially for underrepresented minorities. What we may not realize is that mentoring can take many forms. Sometimes, we "mentor" unknowingly...
Recently, I received email from a former undergraduate student (whom I will call Hypatia) who is now a graduate student elsewhere. While she was an undergraduate in our (physics) department, I interacted with her very little -- I didn't teach any of her courses, and she was interested in nanotechnology, not astronomy. However, she told me in this email that I had started her down the path she was now on, and she wanted to thank me! I was stunned, to say the least. I hadn't had any long talks with her about her future or given her any advice about much of anything. We'd pretty much just said "hello" to each other when we passed in the hallway. So what happened that she felt that she owed me a "huge debt of gratitude?"
Here's the history: Several years ago, I covered a lecture for one of my colleagues (the class was Intro Astronomy for non-majors) that this student was taking. One lecture. That was it. Unbeknownst to me, I made a strong impression on Hypatia because I was a "female scientist who was so enthusiastic about her work." (I might add that the male colleague I was covering for is one of the most enthusiastic scientists I know, by the way.) That one lecture led her to seek me out to talk about women in science, and ask for help on her "quest to find nanotechnology research" at our university. I remember this visit - a very confident, self-possessed young woman came into my office, said "I want to do nanotech research" and asked me for advice. She clearly knew what she wanted to do, she just didn't know how to get there. I introduced her to one of our physicists who does that kind of research, and the rest, as they say, is history. Hypatia started working in his lab, he recommended her for a summer internship at a major university, and that helped her get into the grad school of her choice where she is now happily pursuing her Ph. D.
I don't know about you, but sometimes hearing, yet again, that it's important that I make time to mentor just feels like one more extra thing I need to do because I'm a female scientist. Followed immediately by a sense of guilt that I can feel resentful about my duty to mentor. So it was nice to get a reminder that mentoring doesn't have to be a huge, onerous, time-consuming, emotionally draining (and yes, rewarding) task. Sometimes, it just requires that I be myself. Now that I can do.
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Astronomy
Accidental Mentoring
So, we all know the importance of mentoring, especially for underrepresented minorities. What we may not realize is that mentoring can take many forms. Sometimes, we "mentor" unknowingly...
Recently, I received email from a former undergraduate student (whom I will call Hypatia) who is now a graduate student elsewhere. While she was an undergraduate in our (physics) department, I interacted with her very little -- I didn't teach any of her courses, and she was interested in nanotechnology, not astronomy. However, she told me in this email that I had started her down the path she was now on, and she wanted to thank me! I was stunned, to say the least. I hadn't had any long talks with her about her future or given her any advice about much of anything. We'd pretty much just said "hello" to each other when we passed in the hallway. So what happened that she felt that she owed me a "huge debt of gratitude?"
Here's the history: Several years ago, I covered a lecture for one of my colleagues (the class was Intro Astronomy for non-majors) that this student was taking. One lecture. That was it. Unbeknownst to me, I made a strong impression on Hypatia because I was a "female scientist who was so enthusiastic about her work." (I might add that the male colleague I was covering for is one of the most enthusiastic scientists I know, by the way.) That one lecture led her to seek me out to talk about women in science, and ask for help on her "quest to find nanotechnology research" at our university. I remember this visit - a very confident, self-possessed young woman came into my office, said "I want to do nanotech research" and asked me for advice. She clearly knew what she wanted to do, she just didn't know how to get there. I introduced her to one of our physicists who does that kind of research, and the rest, as they say, is history. Hypatia started working in his lab, he recommended her for a summer internship at a major university, and that helped her get into the grad school of her choice where she is now happily pursuing her Ph. D.
I don't know about you, but sometimes hearing, yet again, that it's important that I make time to mentor just feels like one more extra thing I need to do because I'm a female scientist. Followed immediately by a sense of guilt that I can feel resentful about my duty to mentor. So it was nice to get a reminder that mentoring doesn't have to be a huge, onerous, time-consuming, emotionally draining (and yes, rewarding) task. Sometimes, it just requires that I be myself. Now that I can do.
- Diversity 101: Nine Simple Steps To A More Diverse Astronomical Community
Today?s bloggers are Joan Schmelz (me!), Program Officer at NSF, Physics Professor at the University of Memphis, Chair of CSWA, and soon-to-be Deputy Director of Arecibo Observatory; Dara Norman, Research Astronomer at the National Optical...
- The Importance Of Mentoring For Fostering Diversity
When traveling to a completely new city, or especially to a different country, knowing how to do basic things like getting around via public transit and knowing where to eat can become difficult tasks. However, with the right person by your side, the...
- Guest Post: Eliza Kempton On Support For A Working Mom With Facebook
Eliza Kempton has recently started a job as an assistant professor of physics at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. Her research is on the atmospheres of extrasolar planets, focusing on low-mass planets known as super-Earths. Eliza is also...
- Guest Post: Lisa Winter On Academic Campus Interviews: What To Expect And How To Prepare
This week's guest blogger is Lisa Winter. Lisa Winter is a Hubble fellow at the University of Colorado studying active galaxies and their relationship to galaxy evolution through feedback processes. Academic Campus Interviews: What to expect and how...
- 215th Aas: Meg Urry
The AAS Meeting was so big, I've asked a few people to help me summarize their thoughts and impressions of the meeting. I'll be posting them over the next days and weeks. Just to prove that I'm not the only one who felt overwhelmed by the...