Mentoring Model for Personal and Professional Identity Formation in Minority Pre-Medical High School Students

• In Event: Full STEM Ahead: Leveraging Out-of-School Learning in STEM Education

Abstract

The long-standing call for increased recruitment of underrepresented minorities (URMs) in medicine has led to the development of pre-medical pipeline programs, such as the HCOP BTM program, with aims to increase exposure to the medical field and address dysfunctional career thinking. Evaluation of program efficacy through the Career Decision Scale, Career Thoughts Inventory, STEM Semantics Survey, and STEM Career Interest Survey reveals short-term successes in reducing career indecision and improving career certainty. However, MANOVA analyses revealed differences in race, gender, and parent household status in these measures, owing to the lack of consideration of psychosocial factors in contributing to dysfunctional career thinking. This warrants the need for a mentoring intervention that explores these factors on career success and identity formation.

Authors

• Tanya Farooq Panwala, Florida Atlantic University

• Nirmala Prakash, Florida Atlantic University

• Alicia Rootes, Florida Atlantic University