Junior Brittany Davis said she did not feel like she had a strong support system as a first-year majoring in STEM. When she was searching for tutors at the Academic Resource Center, she struggled to find someone who had recently taken that class and who was available. Ultimately, she felt that other students had additional support that she was not given.
“I already felt isolated because of my identity and I felt like that same treatment was not given to me,” Davis said.
However, she became a STEM guide and was able to help students in a position similar to hers.
“Having a position like this really means more to me because it’s giving me a way to let people in my position know that there are people who are willing to help you and if they can’t help you they are willing to do everything in their power to do so,” Davis said.
STEM guides are cornerstone of the Howard Hughes Medical Institution Inclusive Excellence STEM grant. This summer DePauw was the only school in Indiana to receive this $1 million award.
Roberts said, “I would consider (it) almost like a super T.A., and actually it’s a T.A. that’s embedded in a particular class.”
STEM guides will go to class once a week to learn what students are learning and support students who come to them with questions. “They [the STEM guides] would be actually in the class, they would hear the material and they would be there to help circulate with activities,” Roberts said.
The main goal of the grant is to is to create a more inclusive STEM environment at DePauw. “We can’t change the faculty, we have role models in class that are in closer age to students. On top of that, they will meet with the faculty outside to know what’s going on in class,” Roberts said.
Davis said STEM guides are an important part of creating that environment. “From what I’ve seen so far, a lot of the STEM guides we have this year are students of color. I think what’s intentional about that is making students of color comfortable coming to us for help,” Davis said.
Ultimately, Davis said representation is helpful when taking STEM courses. Davis said, “Having a lot of students of color who have done well in these courses being present and available to these students; I think that’s already a major key and allowing them to be more successful."