Supporting the Well-Being of Students and Staff in STEM Professional Learning Programs During a Pandemic and Increased Racist Violence
Session ID#: 122492
Session Description:
The 2020 pandemic placed tremendous stress on students and staff in STEM higher education professional learning programs, whether mental, physical, or financial. The incidents of racially-motivated violence compounded the grief and anxiety. Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs), for example, were greatly affected by COVID-19 restrictions and ongoing racist violence, and the emotional toil lingers. Program leads adopted new strategies to support students and staff, while maintaining rich experiential opportunities under these circumstances.
In this session we invite presentations from higher education institutions and STEM organizations on the challenges and opportunities of supporting student and staff well-being and success while training emerging scientists. Strategies might include creating a flexible work environment, facilitating virtual cohort-building, and modeling self-care and encouraging it in others. We are interested in how these practices could continue to benefit learning communities post pandemic, while reducing barriers for underrepresented scholars to STEM experiences overall.
Co-Sponsor(s):
- AMS: American Meteorological Society -
- GSA: Geological Society of America -
Index Terms:
0810 Post-secondary education [EDUCATION]
0825 Teaching methods [EDUCATION]
0855 Diversity [EDUCATION]