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Who and what is a Midwest Alliance mentee?
Mentees are high school juniors, seniors, and college students with disabilities. The mentee is an individual who is willing and has a desire to learn, and build skills and knowledge with the assistance of a mentor. The mentor will help the mentee achieve this by sharing his/her knowledge of resources, expertise, values, skills, perspectives, and attitudes. For an example, mentors will share what they have learned regarding academic accommodations, transition to higher education, study skills, self-advocacy, etc.
Who and what is a Midwest Alliance mentor?
Mentors are college and university students, or alumni, with disabilities in STEM fields. Mentoring is a personal enhancement strategy through which one person facilitates the development of another by sharing knowledge of resources and expertise, like what they have learned regarding academic accommodations and transition to higher education. We provide every mentor with training, which can be done in person or over the internet.
What exactly do mentors and mentees do?
Mentors and high school students or younger college students (called mentees) will meet several times in one of three ways. Mentors can expect to work with up to two mentees, providing a minimum of 16 hours of one-on-one time spent mentoring. Mentors will be responsible for sharing values, skills, perspectives, attitudes and proficiencies, such as study skillsand self-advocacy. This allows the mentee to build skills and knowledge while attaining his/her development goals. Conversely, it provides the opportunity for the experienced party to further enhance his/her skill and knowledge areas by continuously reassessing and building upon those areas.
What types of mentoring are available?
We will work with mentors and mentees to provide the type of mentoring that would be most beneficial to the mentee, based on his or her location, preferred type of communication, etc.
Face-to-Face Communication (FFC):
Mentors will meet with mentees in face-to-face meetings at a high school, library, cafe, or any other mutally determined place. Topics are suggested, and mentors and mentees are free to discuss other topics in addition to (but not in place of) suggested topics. College students will talk with mentees about STEM, transitioning to college, accommodations, self-advocacy, etc. Mentors and mentees may also work on projects or presentations that can be shared with local elementary and middle schools.
Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC):
In this communication group, mentees and mentors will communicate via e-mail or electronic chat. Unlike face-to-face communication, mentees and mentors will not be restricted to a particular day or time, but will be able to communicate at their convenience.
Because this communication is completely computer-mediated, joint projects could be an online presentation, or online discussion hosted by the mentee and mentor.
Hybrid Communication (HCP):
Mentors and mentees will meet for sessions that will take place either in person (at the high school) or via the internet. The mentor and mentee will meet face-to-face regularly and will also be able to communicate via e-mail or electronic chats at other times.
Mentors and mentees can work on projects or presentations that can be shared with local elementary and middle schools. Mentors and mentees in this group can create live presentations and projects, or electronic versions of them.
What is an internship, and where can I find one?
An internship offers high school and post-secondary students the opportunity to gain experience and insight into an area, position, or industry under the supervision of an experienced professional. To be an intern through the Midwest Alliance, we require that you commit to a minimum of 40 hours as a high school student (or recent graduate), or 80 hours as a postsecondary student. Some experience can be paid while others are unpaid. Internships are a form of experiential education. Experiential education is an opportunity to learn by doing the job. The Midwest Alliance Outreach Program will help you find an internship that suits your skills and needs.
What can be gained from being a mentee. What are the benefits?
Mentorship placements have a proven record of helping various types of people succeed both during a time of transition and throughout one's academic career. The mentoring relationship that we provide will be closely supervised and designed to best meet the needs of the mentee. Mentees can expect to receive a wide range of helpful guidance and support throughout the placement.
Why are only science, technology, engineering, and math fields covered in your activities?
The reason for this is that individuals with disabilities who are working professionally in these fields are under-represented, and we are committed to improving access, removing barriers, increasing opportunities, and improving the preparedness of people with disabilities in order to reverse this fact and work to create a more diverse, fair, and representative workforce. The Midwest Alliance is funded by the National Science Foundation in an effort to improve the participation of individuals with disabilities in STEM fields.What is the reason for the under-representation of people with disabilities in STEM programs and professions?
As in other fields, where people with disabilities had to 'prove' themselves, the same is true with science, technology, engineering, and math fields. The lack of public awareness, slow progress toward accessible learning spaces, and societal attitudes have all historically contributed to the under-representation of people with disabilities in these fields.
I'm not sure whether my interest or degree is actually a STEM discipline. What are STEM fields?
A complete list of eligible STEM fields is available here. Please ask us if you are unsure about whether your field qualifies as a STEM field.
