Conference: Igniting Excellence in STEM Mentoring (IESM)

Mentors play an incredible role in supporting and cultivating the talents of the nation’s human resources, recognizing potential and helping to catalyze growth for advancing scientific innovation and discovery. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) represents the best of the best STEM mentors in the U.S. and is widely acknowledged as one of the most prestigious mentor groups with demonstrated excellence in cultivating the talent of all. Though these leaders have worked effectively in their contexts, rarely have they had opportunities to convene in ways that allow this body to work together, learning from each other and supporting the learning and development of others who could benefit from their expertise. This represents a knowledge gap and a unique opportunity to leverage this brain trust to address critical needs in the development of STEM ecosystems that can effectively support the success of all. This activity will organize a convening of PAESMEM Awardees and Mentoring Scholars and Practitioners to collectively advance knowledge and evidence-based approaches to mentoring. The focal point of this conference of PAESMEM leaders is to reflect on local and national trends impacting STEM education and workforce development in the U.S. and ways to advance and scale STEM mentoring that effectively reduces and eliminates opportunity gaps by developing the talents of all in STEM-related disciplines. The conference will target 75 participants from the PAESMEM and broader STEM mentoring communities. A guiding coalition of PAESMEM Awardees and Finalists will direct the engagement plan, design the conference agenda, and oversee the development of a national report of findings. The report and recommended tools will promote mentoring practices that reduce opportunity gaps, particularly for the most vulnerable human resources in STEM. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.