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Symbiotic STEM

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Scientists
(and scientists in training)

Connect with interested students on a flexible schedule from any location (home, the lab, or even the field!) with no minimum time commitment required. We offer certificates for mentor participation.

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Teachers, coaches, + other group leaders

Our virtual mentoring sySTEM will help you easily find STEM mentors and provide you with template lesson plans for mentoring events.

Individuals and families

With parent/guardian permission, you can find mentors in our sySTEM. Be sure to check out our guides for help initiating + maintaining mentoring relationships.

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Community members + other organizations

Check out some other easy ways to get involved!

Become a mentor

BECOME A MENTOR
(FOR SCIENTISTS AND SCIENTISTS IN TRAINING)

HOW IT WORKS

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  1. Sign up as a mentor here and answer some questions about yourself.
     

  2. We'll add your information to our online mentoring sySTEM. (For more about how we use your information, please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.)
     

  3. Wait for an invitation to virtually talk with a group of students or individual mentee. Teachers and mentees will search the database for mentors and contact you to explain the mentoring event they are planning.
     

  4. Decide if the invitation is a good match for your interests and availability. If so- enjoy!** If not, decline and wait for another opportunity.

    **Follow any instructions given by the teacher or group leader as to specific trainings (usually quite short) or forms required to interact with their students. These laws differ by state and by school.

We do not require a minimum time commitment but we do offer certificates to celebrate your hard work. Participate in as many or few mentoring events as you would like whenever you have time. We appreciate all of your hard work to make STEM more inclusive and welcoming. 

If you would like to participate in a certificate program, please click below for more info.

WHO CAN MENTOR?

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Anyone who is currently or was previously enrolled in a STEM program at a college or university. This includes undergraduates, nurses, doctors, industry workers, professors, lab techs, graduate students, engineers, etc.

 

Our goal is to expose both mentors and mentees to diverse STEM fields, ideas, and career paths. We therefore are not going to nit-pick whether a specific area is a “STEM” field or at what stage someone can be considered a mentor.

 

We are excited to provide mentees with a wide range of mentors who can provide conversation and guidance on anything from applying to college to working on a specific science project.

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You do not need to consider yourself to be in an underrepresented group to mentor. 

For more information on the importance of supporting DEI, even if you aren't a minority, check out our list of readings here. 

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FIND A MENTOR
(FOR TEACHERS, COACHES, CLUBS)

Find a mentor

HOW IT WORKS

  1. ​​Contact us via email + tell us a bit about your students and what kind of mentoring you would like (see right panel for examples) so we can begin planning together. 
     

  2. If your students will do any one-on-one mentoring, 
    distribute mentee permission slips for all interested students. Students under 18 will need a parent/guardian signature to access our mentor sySTEM + talk to mentors one-on-one. (For more about how we use your information, please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service)
     

  3. We will give you access to our mentoring sySTEM and answer any questions you have about choosing mentors or planning events. Any students who have submitted permission slips will also have access to the mentor sySTEM. 
     

  4. Use the sySTEM to find mentors with scientific interests and personal identities that best match
     

  5. Reach out to the selected group of mentors to schedule a virtual mentoring event!
     

Teachers/group leaders and their students have total say in what mentoring events look like. 

Our philosophy is that teachers + group leaders know what will most benefit their students way better than we can. We're here to provide the tools to make STEM mentoring more accessible for everyone.

 

Don't have time to design a mentoring event or need ideas? No problem- we provide example lesson plans used by other teachers for our program that you can use directly or modify.

MENTEE PERMISSION SLIPS

what is a "mentoring event"?

The short answer is that it's up to you! 

Events can be stand-alone or involve reoccurring conversations between specific mentors and mentees. 

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Check out lesson plans designed by other teachers + group leaders for our program.

Feel free to directly use or modify them. If you have ideas you want to share with other teachers, please send them our way!

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Common types of mentoring events:

 

“Traditional” mentoring:

Mentors and mentees speak in smaller groups about a specific science project or have reoccurring conversations (over days, weeks, or months) about various topics.

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Topic talks:

A few mentors form a panel to answer questions from a group of mentees. Usually these are themed, such as a panel to talk about a specific field of research or aspect of being or becoming a scientist. These are great for lunch periods.

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Mentoring mixers:

Timed or free-form events in which mentees rotate between different mentors for brief conversations about a specific topic. 

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One-on-one mentoring**:

**Requires a filled out mentee permission slip.

Mentees are able to speak one-on-one with mentors + access our mentoring sySTEM to see contact information for all mentors. Be sure to check out resources to help mentees establish, maintain, and end mentoring relationships. 

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FIND A MENTOR FOR INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES

FIND A MENTOR
(FOR INDIVIDUALS + FAMILIES)

OTHER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

Other ways to get involved

HOW IT WORKS

  1. ​​Fill out a mentee permission slip and email it to us. Individuals over 18 years of age can sign themselves (For more about how we use your information, please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service)
     

  2. We will give you access to our mentoring sySTEM and answer any questions you have about choosing mentors.
     

  3. Use the sySTEM to find mentors with scientific interests and personal identities that best match your needs
     

  4. Email a mentor to establish a new mentoring relationship. Be sure to check out our guides for help initiating + maintaining mentoring relationships.

RESOURCES FOR MENTEES

Unsure how to start talking with a mentor? Want to learn about more STEM programs? Head over to our  resources page! We have: ​

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  • Guides for starting, maintaining, changing, and ending mentoring relationships
     

  • Links to other STEM programs + resources

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  • Articles + books
     

DONATE

We are incredibly grateful for any monetary or material donations that help us reach more students.

 

Donate or learn more about how your donation will be used.

SPREAD THE WORD

  • Tag and mention us in your posts about STEM diversity, DEI, mentoring, and more! 

  • Share our information and/or fliers with schools and teachers! Most of our new partnerships come from mentors connecting us with their own schools or communities.​​

 

COLLABORATE WITH US

  • Ask your STEM field colleagues to sign up as mentors- it's an incredibly rewarding and simple way to make a difference in the lives of future scientists, engineers, and medical professionals! 

  • We also are happy to work with community organizations looking for STEM volunteers for events. Contact us for more info!

 

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