In the second episode of the new Chem4REAL podcast, three faculty – Catherine Chan, a faculty in biological sciences and chemistry working at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Kris Curran, a professor of biology at UW-Whitewater, and Ozgur Yavuzcetin of the physics department at UW-Whitewater – discuss mentoring diverse STEM students through engagement in undergraduate research.
Strategies to Recruit Diverse Students
There are many strategies to recruit diverse students. Dr. Curran finds a way to incorporate her research into the courses she teaches, while Dr. Yavuzcetin utilizes one the benefits of a small department – pairing a student with a faculty member based on the student’s skills and interests. In both cases, the key seems to be forming connections with students.
Students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater can join the Research Apprenticeship Program, which promotes the engagement of students in mentored research experiences early in their college career.
“The program helps students find appropriate mentors as opposed to putting the burden on the students on themselves to find those appropriate mentors.”
Dr. Catherine Chan
Supporting Diverse Students in Your Research Group
The panelists suggest several ways to support students of diverse backgrounds once they are in your research group. Dr. Curran says that when she thinks of diversity, it includes not only underrepresented minorities, but also first-generation college students and non-traditional students that may have families to consider. She has observed that the barrier to participating in research sometimes is financial. As faculty, it can be helpful to know about the financial resources available to students for research, both institutional resources and external funding opportunities. Secondly, if faculty take the time to help students make connections with the offices that can provide financial support for their research, that can help remove financial hurdles for the student.
Drs. Catherine Chan (left), Kris Curran (top right), and Ozgur Yavuzcetin (bottom right) shown mentoring their students. Photo credit: Craig Schreiner
Dr. Curran also points out how flexibility of schedule can be a key factor in whether a student will engage in research. She says, “So telling them, well, this is my expectation – it’s this many hours a week. Now I’d like you to come in on this day, but once you’re trained, you can, this is a little flexible. So once you’re trained, you can work a little bit more independently or, say, you have a test that you need to study for. Okay, well, let’s take that day off of research and you study for that test, but then next week, I’d like you to come in double time or I’d like you to come in on Friday…and that really helps them.”
If you are interested in listening to the full episode, you can find the episode here. The transcript for the episode can be downloaded here: Chem4REAL Podcast Transcript – Episode 2. You can explore all of our episodes at the bottom of this post or you can search for the Chem4REAL podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. New episodes are released monthly. As always, please be sure to subscribe and leave a rating as it helps others to find the podcast. We hope to hear your thoughts!
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The Chem4REAL podcast was launched by Bridget Gourley, Catherine Chan, Hector Palencia, Rob Bachman, Anna Cavinato, Toni Barstis, Greg Ferrence and Karen Almeida.
Undergraduate Research in Chemistry 