Learn How to Support Students
IGEN is committed to increasing the number of Black, Latinx and Indigenous students to erase the gap in attainment rates by such students between bachelor's and doctoral degrees. This goal will be achieved through the expansion of Bridge Programs, the adoption of evidence-based practices for inclusive excellence and systemic reforms of programs focused on access and retention. Learn how your institution, program, laboratory or company can participate in supporting physical sciences students along the road from undergraduate through the first professional employment.
Professional Development Opportunities and Resources
The IGEN resource library has a collection of professional development resources that can inform your practice as well as workshops that can support you and your organization as you adopt these evidence-based practices. Several resources developed by the IGEN partners at the Research Hub, Inclusive Practices Hub and the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences In Research (CIMER) are shown below.
Equity in Graduate Admissions Workshops
Practical strategies for rethinking typical admissions criteria and processes are introduced, with a focus on the equity-based holistic review and embedding attention to equity throughout the admissions process.
Optimizing Mentoring Relationships in University-Research Settings
Effective mentorship plays a critical role in student success. Evidence-based mentorship education curricula are available to help mentors and mentees develop skills for engaging in productive and culturally-responsive mentoring relationships.
Learn to Implement Mentorship Education
Quality mentorship is an important contributor to the success of researchers across all disciplines and career stages. Facilitator training empowers others to implement evidence-based mentorship education at their home institutions or organizations.
Equitable Practices for Writing, Reading and Soliciting Letters of Recommendation
In order to ensure that letters of recommendation are effective tools for enhancing equity, we must critically assess how we write, read, and solicit letters of recommendation.
Equity in Graduate Education Virtual Journal Club
Quarterly gatherings hosted by the IGEN Research and Inclusive Practices Hubs that break down research studies and social theories that are relevant to equity in graduate education, with attention to practical implications.
Communicating with Students about Racial Violence
The importance of effectively and authentically communicating with students; Educating oneself on systemic racial inequities; Initial steps and recommendations for communicating with and supporting Black students.
Supporting Mentors of Postdocs in Federally-Funded Research & Development Centers (national laboratories): IGEN partners are collaborating to adapt an existing a mentor training curriculum for the mentors of postdocs at national laboratories. Following beta testing this curriculum will be ready for distribution in 2021.
Fostering Student Wellbeing
This workshop is designed to help mentors recognize how usual norms and practices in academe create environments that can undermine wellbeing, particularly for minoritized students. Through this recognition, mentors can become more thoughtful about the impact of their behavior and begin to foster environments that support wellbeing.
Individual Development Plans
Individual Development Plans (IDPs) are tools designed to help students and postdoctoral scholars map out career and personal development plans. Support students in this effort by encouraging them to complete CHEM IDP, designed specifically for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the chemical sciences or another IDP.