By Kathleen Carty-Fisher
Mentorships are for everyone. For Indigenous students and professionals, research supports the positive impact of mentorship on success and persistence. Yet while the benefits of mentorship are widely acknowledged, many encounter significant obstacles to finding mentors, particularly in STEM. Confronting these obstacles are Indigenous researchers using their data and personal experiences to promote solutions.
Dr. Kanoho Hosoda, a Native Hawaiian postdoctoral scholar at the University of California San Francisco, has made significant contributions to existing data on mentorship. An alumna of the AISES Lighting the Pathway to Faculty Careers for Natives in STEM program, Dr. Hosoda understands firsthand what makes a quality mentor relationship. “When Indigenous students are deciding if they want to pursue a career in STEM, mentee and mentor values must align. Culture and quality matter,” she explains. “The mentorship relationship should focus on connection and collaboration, working with the student to create a network of support.”
Dr. Hosoda’s research highlights the importance of incorporating Indigenous culture and knowledge into the mentorship relationship as a predictor of student persistence. She explains that key conversations include “how to integrate Indigenous and professional identities and how to retain your Indigenous identity along with your identity as a scientist.” Dr. Hosoda emphasizes the correlation between mentor cultural competency and mentee persistence in STEM careers. “Success looks like being able to bring your whole self to your work,” she says.
Alexa Azure, Standing Rock Sioux, is a seasoned mentor whose life experiences help her connect with students. “I understand what growing up on the reservation entails, and how different it is from living in a larger, predominately non-Native community,” she says. Having left the reservation herself to pursue her studies, Azure is now an instructor and engineering department chair at United Tribes Technical College. “When I started at UTTC, I was the only Native STEM faculty member,” she says, and she recognized that this circumstance gave her a unique opportunity to engage students. Now, 12 years later, two of Azure’s former students are STEM faculty alongside her, with another teaching at Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College.
Azure has expanded her mentorship efforts as program director for ASPIRE (Advanced Synergistic Partnerships for Indigenous Research in Engineering). This grant-funded program supports engineering students transferring from a TCU to pursue their degree. “We mentor them while at our institutions and then continue mentoring them after they transfer to their next institution, she says, noting ASPIRE’s success with peer mentorship. “TCU alumni at the universities are hired as tutors for current TCU students,” Azure explains. Through these peer mentorships students have grown their support networks and enrollment in the program has increased by 100 percent.
“I had lost some of the passion I had for learning, and meeting with my mentor reinvigorated that passion.” — Liam Wrixon
On the other side of the mentorship relationship are mentees, who experienced doors opened to worlds of opportunity thanks to quality mentoring. While completing his undergraduate work at the height of the pandemic, Potawatomi Nation citizen Liam Wrixon experienced the difference a mentor can make in difficult times. “I had lost some of the passion I had for learning, and meeting with my mentor reinvigorated that passion,” he recalls. “Without his encouragement and guidance, I would not be pursuing graduate school today.” Now heading for a career in entomology research, Wrixon has been able to find a strong network of support thanks to the foundation set by his mentor. “Having these connections has furthered my educational and career goals and led to friendships, mentorships, and experiences I otherwise never would have had,” he says.
Peer mentorship can also be a significant success factor. Alesia Nez, Navajo, felt homesick and isolated after she moved to pursue her education at Washington State University. “I almost dropped out of school,” she says. Then Nez attended a campus Indigenous Peoples’ Day event. “I made new friends that day,” she says. “They helped me realize that I also belong here.” Since building her network of peer mentors, Nez has gained the confidence to pursue her studies in biology and has become a peer mentor herself.
Olivia Fisher-Gage, Oneida Nation of the Thames, discovered that both peer and professional mentors can be vital to success for Indigenous students. Now a veterinary assistant, initially Fisher-Gage didn’t consider a STEM career because of the lack of representation in academic and professional spaces. Then she learned about opportunities in veterinary medicine from a friend. “I asked her all my questions and left wanting to go into the program myself,” says Fisher-Gage, who is now in a career she loves — combining science with her passion for caring for animals. As a new STEM professional, she says that having a quality team for mentorship is essential. “Someone is always there to give a tip on how to get a hold of every new task,” she explains. “Having guidance is key to staying motivated about growing in your career.”
Illustrations by istock
Facilitating effective mentoring has long been part of the AISES mission. With support from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the AISES Full Circle Mentorship Program is now offering a yearlong opportunity that matches college and professional participants based on subject area, goals, and interests. Meetings are held virtually, and participants can connect as a cohort to share experiences and collaborate. Participants receive personalized academic and career support and create a customized meeting schedule, set goals, and develop academic and career skills. The program includes webinars and trainings covering popular topics like what to expect on both sides of the mentorship relationship, how mentors can best support students, and tips for both mentors and mentees, along with sessions focused on the needs of Indigenous students and professionals.
Dr. Johnny Poolaw, AISES director of student success, oversees the program, which is designed to strengthen mentorship relationships for a lasting impact. “Through the program we hope that students see the benefits of mentorship, and mentors see how they can make a difference in helping students accomplish their goals,” Dr. Poolaw explains. “Ultimately, we want to see our students succeed — meeting their goals, graduating, attaining careers, and increasing the number of Indigenous professionals in STEM.” He also notes that the program’s name points to its objective. “We hope that mentees who have benefited from the program will return as mentors, bringing the program full circle.” He points out that cultural representation is closely tied to this program goal. “Representation is so important,” he says. “When our students have Indigenous mentors who are professionals in STEM, they can envision what’s possible for them as well.”
Learn more about the Full Circle Mentorship program at aises.org. The next cohort will begin in August 2024.
— KC-F