Enhancing Diversity in STEM Careers Through Mentored Training (2025-2026)

Background

Innovation and integrity in health and environment fields rely on a diverse, inclusive workforce, yet STEM disciplines fall behind other fields in cultivating a diverse community of scholars and practitioners. The environmental health field is particularly homogenous, an especially disconcerting fact given the pervasiveness of environmental injustice and the relationship between environmental issues and human health.

Durham Public Schools (DPS) are not immune to these inequalities. Non-white DPS students fall behind the rest of the state in grade level proficiency, making it difficult for historically marginalized and excluded communities to access higher education and pursue STEM fields. Mentoring high school students increases their chances of pursuing higher education, increases scientific identity and improves overall student outcomes.

Project Description

Building on the work of a previous team, this project seeks to diversify STEM fields by providing educational modules and mentorship for Durham Public School students and providing teachers with resources on how to use the team’s curriculum in their own classrooms. The team will engage students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, based on National Sanitation Foundation and National Institute of Health guidelines, and expand the program to include other schools in the area.

Team members will serve as mentors for the Health and Environment Scholars Program (HESP) and work to implement and evaluate a year-long high school curriculum focused on the intersection of environmental science and health. The project team will analyze the effectiveness and impact of the program, which includes college- and career-readiness training and mentorship, through surveys to adapt and improve the curriculum design and program.

This project will also focus on creating stronger relationships with students’ caregivers through check-ins and newsletters to form lasting connections with students and their communities. This team will further develop partnerships with DPS teachers by using teacher stipends to expand the Curriculum Advisor summer program and include an Executive Advisory Board of educators to advise on the curriculum throughout the year. The team will use the expertise of local educators to expand the reach of the curriculum by developing and disseminating toolkits for educators across the nation to use in their classrooms

Anticipated Outputs

Implementation and evaluation of year-long program on environmental science and health; community building with DPS; refined outreach plan and platform; evaluation data;  website for teacher toolkits and curriculum; peer-reviewed article

Student Opportunities

Ideally, this project team will include 2 graduate students and 12 undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds, emphasizing STEM fields, but also drawing on students exploring health and environment through humanities approaches.

Students will learn how to design engaging high school level curriculum, undergo extensive mentoring training, learn about issues of environmental health from curriculum design preparation and field experiences, and engage with and learn from local DPS educators on how to build effective curriculum. Additionally, students will gain skills in community-based research through surveys and focus groups. Students will conduct statistical analysis to reach applicable, data-backed conclusions to make best practice suggestions for similar programs that include science communication and peer mentoring.. These results will be published in a peer-reviewed article.

The entire team will meet weekly. Undergraduate students will have an additional weekly meeting to make progress on program goals and planning. The project uses a tiered mentorship strategy, in which all trainee levels are able to act as mentor and mentee. Faculty will serve as mentors for staff project managers, who in turn serve as mentors for graduate assistants and undergraduates. Undergraduates will serve as mentors to the high school student participants.

One undergraduate and one graduate student will have the opportunity to participate in summer work. This will take place over eight weeks and students will be expected to work 10 hours per week.

Timing

Summer 2025-Summer2026

• Summer 2025 (optional): Update quantitative surveys; increase high school affiliations; recruit mentors and mentees for fall programming; write up publication of past years’ survey data; engage with DPS teachers in Curriculum Advisor program
• Fall 2025: Complete Duke's working with minors training; implement career and college readiness curriculum and activities; administer pre-event surveys
• Spring 2026: Continue implementation of experiential education curriculum and mentoring; collect survey data to analyze program efficacy; launch website for teacher toolkits and curriculum
• Summer 2026 (optional): Evaluate post-event surveys; write up publication of teacher toolkits

Crediting

Academic credit available for fall and spring semesters; summer funding available

See earlier related team, Careers Through Mentored Training (2024-2025).

 

_{Image: Students at the Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility in January 2023, courtesy of the Enhancing Mentoring in STEM project team}