Pushes have been made in recent years to increase representation of underrepresented students such as women, Hispanics, African Americans, and other minorities, in the STEM fields. One of the best ways to support students in exploring and pursuing STEM careers is through effective mentorship.

 Kirsten Wood, Associate Director of the Office to Advance Women, Equity & Diversity (AWED) and Associate Professor of History, Pete Markowitz, Professor of Physics and AWED team member, and Caroline Simpson, College of Arts, Sciences & Education Faculty Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Physics, were speakers at this year’s American Physical Society (APS) National Mentoring Community (NMC) Conference, which took place in February at the University of Central Florida.

 Organized in partnership with the National Society for Black Physicists and the National Society for Hispanic Physicists, the NMC Conference is an effort by APS to increase the number of physics degrees earned by underrepresented minority students.

The team presented material adapted from the one-day FIU ADVANCE Bystander Leadership workshops, which focuses on educating people about implicit bias and providing opportunities to practice intervening in positive ways when situations of bias occur.

 According to Simpson, “this was a chance to connect with physicists from underrepresented groups and allies interested in helping change the face of physics through mentoring. Our workshop introduced a new set of tools for people to use that directly support the participation of diverse people in physics.”

Because the focus of the conference was on creating student success, the team created new materials, including a script featuring an undergraduate physics major seeking advice about graduate school. This script illustrated ways in which implicit bias affects students, such as which students are discouraged from applying to the top program. The team then fostered discussion on topics such as helping students think about how to advocate for each other, and the session culminated in participants’ practicing possible interventions.

The presentation was not only well-received but welcomed by the audience, which included faculty members, students, postdocs, and people from industry. “The audience was very aware of and sensitive to the issues we were raising,” says Markowitz.

 After their presentation was over, participants asked if the FIU ADVANCE team offered trainings on the road or “train the trainer” workshops. Wood observed, “this positive reception suggests that there’s a lot of interest in learning about the best ways to counteract and reduce biased behavior in our classrooms, labs, and mentoring relationships.”