The Chemistry Women Mentorship Network (ChemWMN): A Tool for Creating Critical Mass in Academic Chemistry.

Despite a growing number of women obtaining Ph.D. degrees in the physical sciences, a critical gap still exists in the advancement of women into and within the academic workforce. Women now earn about 40% of the Ph.D.s in the field of chemistry, yet they comprise less than 20% of tenure-line faculty.[1,2] The factors influencing women’s deviation from the “academic track” are complex, but the lack of women role models and supportive mentoring is a predominant reason.[3−6] Women typically do not receive the same level and frequency of mentorship as their male counterparts, likely because of the gender disparity within the academy.[7,8] Recognizing the need for enhanced mentorship of women interested in furthering their academic careers, we founded the Chemistry Women Mentorship Network (ChemWMN) in 2013 to provide interinstitutional mentor matching of graduate students and postdocs with women faculty members.[9,10]

Recognizing a Niche for Women Mentorship in Chemistry

A number of national and international groups offer support to women in science and amplify their concerns through activism. These organizations can be classified into several broad categories based on their primary goals and the types of connections that they generate for their members. Some organizations focus on advocacy initiatives to advance women’s issues in STEM, while others specifically offer a platform for making direct mentoring connections. Mentoring-focused organizations can be classified as intramural (creating connections within an institution) or interinstitutional (making connections across institutions). Moreover, mentoring connections can be formed between peers at the same career stage or between women at different career stages. Each of these paradigms is critical and offers much needed support to the cause of women in STEM.

Several national organizations offer effective advocacy for women in chemistry and, more broadly, in a host of STEM disciplines. The American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee (WCC) focuses on the engagement, retention, and career development of women in chemistry-based careers. Through various initiatives, WCC helps to bring issues of importance for women to a broader dialogue, increase leadership opportunities for women, and provide extensive career development programs. In parallel, WCC helps to highlight the accomplishments of women on the national stage.

Beyond chemistry, many other groups advocate for women in STEM. 500 Women Scientists is a grassroots organization that seeks to empower women in science through advocacy and the development of resources to plan inclusive scientific meetings, address harassment, and increase scientific literacy. Most of its initiatives are led by local chapters that address issues within their own communities. The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) advocates for issues facing women in science on a national and international platform. It offers leadership development programs and carries out social science research investigating issues facing the STEM enterprise. AWIS chapters take a grassroots approach to developing communities among women in STEM through networking and mentorship.

Several organizations offer resource toolkits to help scientists establish mentoring relationships. 500 Women Scientists, mentioned above, has adopted the mentoring toolkit developed by The Three Circles of Alemat, a mentoring project based in the Middle East, to assist chapters in creating grassroots mentoring networks. A related mentoring toolkit, Mentoring-in-a-Box, has been developed by the National Center for Women & Information Technology in collaboration with AnitaB.org to support individual mentor–mentee pairs. Million Women Mentors similarly offers kits and training for corporations to start mentoring programs for women in STEM and acts as a clearinghouse to partner participating organizations with nonprofit groups in need of STEM mentors. Other organizations, including Science Mentoring Research from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, collect and curate mentoring resources.

A number of organizations have programming elements focused on establishing mentoring relationships. Intramural mentoring networks are common within academic institutions, often pairing mentors and mentees within a career stage, such as new graduate students with more senior ones or assistant professors with senior faculty. Often these programs use specific, nationally-recognized monikers; however, the programming varies on an institutional basis. For example, the ADVANCE program, funded by the National Science Foundation, supports university-based initiatives that promote systemic changes to address issues of gender equity and inclusion. Many universities create faculty mentoring programs under their ADVANCE initiatives. At the student level, the Women in Science & Engineering and Women in Science groups can be found at many universities around the U.S. They, along with local chapters of Iota Sigma Pi, the national honor society for women in chemistry, often coordinate peer-mentoring programs for graduate and undergraduate women in STEM.

Furthermore, a handful of organizations offer interinstitutional, cross-career-stage connections and mentoring opportunities with a broad focus on supporting women in a range of science, engineering, and technology fields. For example, the previously mentioned Million Women Mentors organization provides a platform that directly connects member corporations to a constantly curated list of local girl-serving mentee organizations near them. Activation kits and a resource index help corporations to initiate and sustain community mentoring programs. MentorNet, a virtual mentoring organization, connects students in search of a mentor with professionals working across a wide range of STEM disciplines and career goals. In Sweden, the Women in Science organization hosts workshops, seminars, and mentor programs to help women achieve their goals. The U.S. National Academies fund a program called Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research, which invites scientists in developing countries to form self-organized cohorts and apply for funds to support research and capacity-building activities. MakePossible, a mentoring network established in Canada to advance women in science and technology careers, offers a free online platform where women either can serve as mentors or join as mentees.

While large and diverse networks offer many advantages, specialized in-field connections and mentoring can play important roles in career development. For instance, there are peculiarities within the field of chemistry that do not translate to other areas of STEM, and there are aspects of academics that are foreign to industry professionals. In addition, within the chemistry academy, women are still a minority in teaching and tenure-track positions and could benefit from directed academic chemistry mentoring to succeed in their male-dominated departments. With ChemWMN, we seek to fill this gap in mentoring by matching women chemists who are interested in academia across institutions and across career stages.

How We Got Started

ChemWMN formed in 2013. The idea started with a phone call between Brandi and Jillian. We wanted to do something as a team that we were passionate about and that would serve the chemistry community where we found a home but where we saw many other people like us feeling excluded. We also recognized that many women already engage in informal mentoring within and outside of their institutions, but there is an activation barrier associated with establishing these connections and building this infrastructure. Moreover, we realized that formalizing mentoring relationships allows mentors to receive credit, which serves to combat invisible labor.

We envisioned and implemented a mentorship network based on one-on-one interactions at all stages of the academic pipeline. In 2017, Liz joined the Leadership Team to help develop the growing network. Now, 5 years after its start, ChemWMN has recruited more than 90 female faculty members from a diverse range of institutions from across North America to serve as mentors for female graduate students and postdoctoral scholars interested in continuing their education or pursuing careers in academia. Our mentor network provides a vital resource for future leaders in chemistry.

How It Works

So how does ChemWMN work? We use the answers from simple questionnaires (see the Supporting Information, SI) to pair interested graduate student and postdoc mentees with faculty mentors. Example questions include,

What area of chemistry are you working in?

What are some criteria by which you would want to be matched with a mentor?

What are your top concerns with regards to pursuing or continuing a career in academia?

Once we identify a suitable mentor–mentee pairing, we confirm with the mentor that the match is acceptable and then send a brief introductory email (see the SI for email templates). We follow up with quarterly networkwide emails that include a reminder to check in with your mentor/mentee, a proposed discussion point to promote conversation, and news relevant to the network or career advancement. Box highlights an example of a quarterly discussion point.

How do you organize your short-term and long-term goals? How often do you revisit your goals? In the business world, some people prefer to follow the SMART method when setting and achieving their goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-related. This 2006 Science article titled “Mastering Your Ph.D.: Setting Goals for Success” shares some great thoughts about setting goals and contextualizing them with the SMART method. Share your experiences in setting goals—including successes and failures—with your mentor or mentee.

Each summer we assemble an annual newsletter that contains a yearly update and an article written by a faculty mentor on a topic related to the network, such as equity and inclusion, or career advancement. Often, we also feature additional content from a mentee. For example, in the summer 2017 edition, we featured an article titled “There is No Wrong Way to Do Grad School (Trust Me, I Tried!)” by then graduate student and ChemWMN mentee Sarah Vorpahl. In addition to setting up the mentor–mentee pairs and prompting communication through the quarterly emails, we also host in-person get-togethers at most American Chemical Society National Meetings.

A database of available mentors, interested mentees, and matches is updated as new members join the network and as new matches are made. Since ChemWMN’s inception, we have accumulated and created a number of mentor and mentee resources, all of which are available on our website and are often featured in the quarterly emails and annual newsletter. Our proposed model for successful mentee–mentor relationships is mentee-directed, encouraging mentees to have ownership of the experience (see Box ).

(1) Initiate. In order to sustain the mentoring relationship, take the initiative to ask your mentor a question, to let her know your educational and professional interests and objectives, and to ask about her own experiences.

(2) Honor Your Commitment. Your mentor probably has a very demanding job. She has volunteered to take on the added responsibility of mentoring. Please be appreciative of your mentor’s time and investment; respond in a timely manner to your mentor’s questions and comments. If you do not have the time to respond at length, send a short message letting this person know you will be in contact when you have the opportunity.

(3) Help Your Mentor Help You. Tell your mentor how she can be most helpful to you.

(4) Expect Support, Not Miracles. You can expect a certain level of support and advice from a mentor, but she cannot solve your problems for you. Perhaps the most valuable quality a mentor can offer is an alternative point of view. A mentor can put the situation into perspective, offer feedback, serve as a sounding board, and identify others whose brains you might pick, activities you can engage in, or small ways you can position your work to meet your goals as well as resources that may be helpful to you.

(5) Communicate Clearly. Initiate contact with your mentor if you have questions or would like to discuss something. Identify your needs and communicate them as clearly as possible to your mentor. It may be helpful to put some focused energy into organizing your thoughts and concerns before talking to your mentor, so that the time is spent wisely.

(6) Be Teachable. Be willing to learn new things, obtain another perspective, and be responsive to suggestions and constructive criticism.

(7) Follow Through. When you decide to act on your mentor’s suggestions, act in a timely manner and then report back to her.

To sustain a vibrant and growing network, ChemWMN is always recruiting new mentors and mentees. Most of our recruiting occurs by word of mouth and by our member faculty highlighting the network during seminars and lectures at academic institutions and conferences. In addition, mentees occasionally request a specific mentor in their current or future field of work. Their request prompts us to reach out to that person to invite her into the network.

Ongoing and Planned Efforts

What do the coming years hold for ChemWMN? We plan to build on our successes to date by continuing our focus on women in academic chemistry. A major focus of our organization has always been and will continue to be mentor and mentee pairing. The academic landscape is continually changing, with new students entering the field and experienced students and postdocs advancing to the faculty level. Our network capitalizes on these transitions, during which mentees become mentors, thereby providing a fresh perspective for new students. Maintaining a strong and current web presence is also essential for communication and sharing of resources. We plan to update our website to include more content to promote mentor–mentee interactions and to provide a comprehensive toolbox of mentoring resources. We will continue to communicate exciting news, relevant research, and thoughtful commentary through Twitter (@chemwmn). Finally, more in-person interactions always help to galvanize mentoring relationships, so we will continue to host happy hours at most American Chemical Society National Meetings. We hope to see you there!

How To Get Involved

Interested in getting involved? It is easy! Send us an email at chemwmn@gmail.com along with a completed mentor or mentee application form (available in the SI or on our website). You can also find us on Twitter @chemwmn sharing news and resources with our ever-expanding community. Part of our motivation for composing this editorial is to inspire other chemists with a passion for mentoring. We encourage anyone interested in mentoring to join ChemWMN or start a new mentoring network that focuses on other groups or demographics.

What about mentorship for women in industry, women outside the United States, or chemists of other diverse and underrepresented groups? In the long term, we envision building a “network-of-networks” in which ChemWMN is a partner in creating a more inclusive and productive environment for all. ChemWMN’s strength comes from our focus on women in academia, but this framework is versatile and transferable to many different groups. ChemWMN can be a mentor and model for your network!