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Less than a decade ago, Smith science faculty surveying the first-year faces that greeted them each September began to notice a disturbing trend. Students from certain populations-African-Americans, Latinas, Native Americans-seemed to be disappearing from certain class rosters. "When I came to Smith in 1991, women of color were virtually nonexistent in my introductory course," recalls Doreen Weinberger, associate professor of physics. The situation was only marginally better in biology and chemistry, with their larger first-year enrollments. And, adds Weinberger, those few students of color who were who prospective science majors were dropping out at disproportionate rates. Less than 9 percent of current Smith students identify themselves as African-American, Latina or Native American. And although such figures may sound low, the numbers of those opting to major in the sciences are lower still. Why such skewed statistics? Have these students been poorly prepared by their high schools to take demanding science courses? Did they receive too little encouragement in their pre-teen years? Do they lack role models? All of these factors may play a role, Weinberger suggests. She also notes that many women of color who come to Smith planning to study science report feeling isolated in their first-year classes. "The white students are very much the dominant culture here," she says. "Students of color are often disconnected and have difficulty finding help when they need it." In recent years Smith administrators, faculty and students have worked together to reverse this trend. Among several new initiatives is one aimed at first-year students. The Peer Mentoring Program for Underrepresented Students in the Sciences was established in January 1995 with a primary goal of increasing the numbers of African-Americans, Latinas and Native Americans in math and science classes at Smith. It provides every interested first-year student from an "underrepresented" population with a mentor, a more-senior student majoring in math or science. (Mentors are also available to transfer students and Ada Comstock Scholars.) The program's director, Casey Clark, Smith's coordinator of tutorial services, explains that the idea is to get the earliest possible start in building the confidence of the newcomers and introducing them to the many support services, resources and research opportunities the college offers. In 1996-97, 14 mentors worked with 25 "mentees," as the protégés have been dubbed. "And the program is growing every year," says Clark. "The college is committed to it, and the students are expected to make a serious commitment, too." Indeed, the mentors-who are not always students of color but come from many backgrounds-are required to meet at least once a week with each of their mentees (most have two) and to submit written reports on the sessions, attend monthly mentor gatherings and confer monthly with Casey Clark or with Sarah Lazare, the program's assistant director. But mentors are not tutors, Clark stresses. While they can point the way to the Center for Academic Development or help a shy student knock on a professor's door, their real job is to be equal parts ally, advocate, role model and friend. "I made sure I let my mentees know I wasn't just interested in them as scientists," notes Lia Thomas '99, who was a mentee in her second semester at Smith and a mentor last year. "Sometimes I'd say, 'I don't want to talk about science today. Let's go downtown and get ice cream.'" Thomas, a West Indian American from the U.S. Virgin Islands and a neuroscience major, admits that as a first-year student she felt unprepared to pursue her dream of attending medical school. "Sometimes I felt like a failure," she recounts. "I had no idea what I was doing in the lab, but my mentor understood what I was going through and was there for me. I don't think I would have stayed [in science] had it not been for her help." Once she became a mentor herself, Thomas found that one of her first-year charges suffered from a similar lack of laboratory experience. "I was able to be an example," says Thomas, "to tell her that I had been in the same position." Similarly, Chantelle Gaskin '00 survived a rigorous chemistry course with the assistance of mentor Ileana Howard '99. "I was having difficulty," Gaskin recalls, "and Ileana told me that she, too, had had problems in first-year chem." And like many mentees, Gaskin got more than moral support from her mentor. "I have learned a lot of skills from Ileana," she maintains. "For example, I learned to use the Internet and the Career Development Office. Ileana is very resourceful. She helped me get an internship in the Smith Summer Science Program." Because the program is less than three years old, its success is easier to measure anecdotally than statistically. Year-end evaluations are enthusiastic, and thus far not only have nearly all mentees opted to remain in the sciences, but many-like Lia Thomas and Ileana Howard-have returned as mentors. Chantelle Gaskin, too, is trying her hand at mentoring this fall. Mentors consistently report that they themselves learn a great deal from the experience. "I've been able to take some of my own advice!" claims Howard. Inevitably, some critics call the program exclusionary because it provides special services to students based on the color of their skin. "Ultimately, we'd like to offer a peer mentor to every first-year student who wants one," concedes Doreen Weinberger, who serves as the program's faculty adviser. "But right now we're targeting the students who are most at risk." Lia Thomas concurs. "Those are the groups who were dropping out at the most alarming rate," she says. "My wish would be to open this program to the entire campus-not just minorities, not just scientists. But this is a start." |
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