Near-Peer Mentoring
Following Summer ETHOS, in the fall of their senior year, the high school students will lead neuroscience/society activities for students from middle schools that feed into the high school. These activities will be similar to the workshops that the high school students attended but adjusted to be appropriate for middle school students. During Summer ETHOS, the high school students take a leading role in designing activities and making sure they are informative, interesting, fun, and a good fit. The hope is that this near-peer mentoring approach will empower the high school students, many of whom hold identities traditionally minoritized in STEM fields, to persist in neuroscience. At the same time, the high school students will serve as role models for the middle school students, inspiring the younger students’ interest in neuroscience and awareness of the connections between neuroscience and societal issues with the eventual goal of broadening representation in the field.
Following Summer ETHOS, in the fall of their senior year, the high school students will lead neuroscience/society activities for students from middle schools that feed into the high school. These activities will be similar to the workshops that the high school students attended but adjusted to be appropriate for middle school students. During Summer ETHOS, the high school students take a leading role in designing activities and making sure they are informative, interesting, fun, and a good fit. The hope is that this near-peer mentoring approach will empower the high school students, many of whom hold identities traditionally minoritized in STEM fields, to persist in neuroscience. At the same time, the high school students will serve as role models for the middle school students, inspiring the younger students’ interest in neuroscience and awareness of the connections between neuroscience and societal issues with the eventual goal of broadening representation in the field.