This webinar discussed research on STEM mentoring for youth with disabilities. Research found mentoring has benefits like increased confidence and engagement in STEM. Effective mentoring is strengths-based, involves hands-on activities in areas of interest, and uses compatible mentors and mentees. The DO-IT program was presented as an example that uses electronic mentoring through discussion boards. Recommendations included emphasizing strengths-based mentoring tailored to youths' goals and providing diverse mentoring experiences. The webinar provided resources on mentoring youth with disabilities.

1. 2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series
STEM Mentoring for Youth
with Disabilities: Research,
Practice, and Resources
Collaboration of Education Northwest/National Mentoring Center, Friends
for Youth, Indiana Mentoring Partnership, Mentor Michigan, Mentoring
Partnership of Minnesota, and Oregon Mentors
May 2012

2. Good to Know…
All attendees will receive an email after the webinar
that will include:
 Instructions for how to access PDF of
presentation slides and webinar recording
 Link to the Mentoring Forum for resources,
contact information & opportunities to continue
the dialogue
Please help us by taking the time to complete a
short 5-question survey as you exit the webinar.
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3. 2012 Collaborative Mentoring
Webinar Series
Sarah Kremer
o Research Program Director
o Practice Friends for Youth
o Innovation
Amber Troupe
Date: Third Thursday of every Director
month. Mentor Michigan
Time: 10-11:15am Pacific/11am-
12:15pm Mountain/12-1:15 pm April Riordan
Central/1-2:15pm Eastern Director of Training & Community
Partnerships
Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota
Cost: Free
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4. Participate in Today’s Webinar
• All attendees muted for best
sound
• Type questions and
comments in the question
box
• We may invite you to “raise
your hand” during interactive
activities
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5. Today’s Webinar
1. STEM Mentoring for Youth with
Disabilities
– Research Findings
2. Example Program: DO-IT, University
of Washington
– Mentoring activities and resources
3. Recommendations
4. Q & A
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6. Regional Research Institute for
Human Services
Laurie Powers has been a Director or Co-
director of 47 research, demonstration, and
training projects funded by federal and
state agencies and national foundations,
and including the STEM Mentor Project
and several other studies of successful
mentoring approaches. Laurie's
work focuses on identifying and putting into
practice strategies to enable young people
with disabilities to express self-
determination and reach their education,
employment, and other goals for adult life.
LAURIE POWERS
ASSOCIATE DEAN
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7. Regional Research Institute for
Human Services
Jo-Ann Sowers’ research and practice is
focused in the area of transition to quality
employment and life outcomes for youth
and young adults with disabilities. A
number of her programs and research
studies have included mentoring
components. Currently, she is the Principal
Investigator of a study to determine the
impact of STEM mentors on youth with
disabilities.
JO-ANN SOWERS
RESEARCH PROFESSOR
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8. Disabilities, Opportunities,
Internetworking, & Technology Center
Scott Bellman has worked for over ten
years at the University of Washington’s
DO-IT Center. DO-IT promotes
postsecondary education and challenging
careers such as science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) for people
with disabilities. Scott manages grant
activities that seek to remove barriers in
educational settings, prepare participants
for careers, and develop resources for a
wide variety of stakeholders. He received a
Masters Degree in Rehabilitation
SCOTT BELLMAN Counseling and is a Licensed Mental
PROGRAM MANAGER Health Counselor in Washington State.
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9. STEM Mentoring for Youth
with Disabilities: Research,
Practice, and Resources
Supported in part by Grant # HRD 0834195 from the
RDE Program of the National Science Foundation.

10. Background
• Individuals with disabilities are
underrepresented in STEM
• Leadership of NSF STEM Research in
Disabilities Education (RDE) Program
• Growing body of knowledge about effective
mentoring
• Our interest and research and practice
experience related to mentoring as a whole
and, in particular, for young people with
disabilities

11. What Matters

12. Research Review
• Methods
– Searched for published research articles on mentoring of
young people ages 14-30 (with a few exceptions)
– Articles focusing on STEM mentoring youth with
disabilities, non-STEM mentoring youth with disabilities,
STEM mentoring females, racial and ethnic minority youth,
major studies of mentoring with at-risk youth
• RDE Alliances have contributed extensive knowledge on
STEM mentoring for youth with disabilities
– Examined study methods, outcomes, mentoring program
and intervention processes, mentor and mentee
characteristics, and mentor-mentee matching

13. Key Findings
• Important findings have emerged, however
definitive evidence that mentoring causes
certain outcomes requires more research
using rigorous methods.
– Experimental, quasi-experimental, mixed
methods, longitudinal research
– Compare aspects of mentoring that are thought to
improve outcomes (e.g., matching) and study
longer term outcomes (increased postsecondary
and career success)

14. Key Findings
• STEM and other mentoring has positive benefits for
young people with disabilities.
• Mentoring is associated with increased confidence,
knowledge, and engagement in STEM and other
areas.
• Young people with disabilities benefit from STEM
mentoring provided by mentors without and with
disabilities.
• Strengths-oriented mentors who foster positive
relationships with mentees are most effective.
• Experiential activities and information sharing in
areas valued by the youth appear to be important for
effective mentoring.

15. Key Findings
• Short-term, focused, and consistent STEM and
other mentoring (less than 1 year) can be
effective.
• Successful matching of STEM and other
mentors and mentees appears most related to
mentors and mentees having compatible
personalities, and shared experiences and
interests (not necessarily in same STEM area).
– More research is needed to sort out when other
factors make a difference; for example, when
similar race, gender, or functional challenges are
important and which factors are likely to trump
others in matching mentors and young people.

16. Key Findings
• Developmental timing matters. For example, STEM
mentoring for 14 year olds is different than STEM
mentoring for 17 year olds.
• Support for mentors and mentees interacting in
groups as well as individually, and for e-mentoring.
Need to learn more about the conditions under
which each type of mentoring, and mentoring
combinations, are most effective.
• Program fidelity is very important (having clear
goals, designing and offering mentoring experiences
directly tied to those goals, orientation for mentor
and mentee, mentor training and ongoing support,
program evaluation that feeds into program
improvement).

17. Mentoring Activities of
the DO-IT Center

18. Electronic Mentoring
 DO-IT Programs have opted for email
discussion lists over chat rooms, web-
based discussion threads, and Internet
chat rooms.
 Social networking activities are student-
driven.

19. Electronic Mentoring
 Discussion list with all mentors and mentees
 Closed discussion lists
 Supports mentor and peer support
 Special-topic subgroups
 Supported with in-person events and
activities

20. Electronic Mentoring
 Ability to communicate over great distances quickly, and
inexpensively
 Elimination of schedule constraints
 Communication with more than one person at a time
 Reduces initial impact of disability
 Technology can reduce impact of communication
disabilities (speech, writing, reading)
 Allows dual role of mentor and mentee
 Provides mode of sharing resources and announcements

21. Mentoring Resources
 Online Knowledge Base:
www.uw.edu/doit/Stem/kb.html
Knowledge Base Sample Questions:
 What is the role of a mentor?
 What are tips for making online mentoring successful?
 What benefits do mentors get from a mentoring
relationship?
 What is the benefit of e-mentoring to students with
disabilities?

22. Examples of Other
DO-IT Resources
Video “Opening Doors: Mentoring over the Internet”
www.uw.edu/doit/Video/index.php?vid=21
Guidelines for Mentors
www.uw.edu/doit/Brochures/Programs/mentoring.html
Book “Creating an E-Mentoring Community: How DO-IT
does it, and how you can do it, too”
www.uw.edu/doit/Mentor/

23. Recommendations
• Emphasize strengths-based mentoring and concrete
information sharing and experiential activities based
on the goals for mentoring and young people’s
interests and developmental needs.
• Include young people and mentors with disabilities
in all mentoring programs, as well as networking
among mentoring programs focusing on mentees
with disabilities and other programs.
– Focus on disability as an element of diversity just like
race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, first
generation, etc. Strive to support culturally congruent
mentoring experiences and creative accommodations
for youth who have diverse characteristics and
experiences.

24. Recommendations
• Provide young people with a diversity of mentoring
and other experiences that respond to their unique
interests and needs – mix and match type of
mentoring offered and matching factors based on
program goals and what seems most important to
youth.
• Establish specific and measurable mentoring
outcome goals, and design, communicate, and
support mentoring experiences that support those
goals.
Jo-Ann Sowers (sowersj@pdx.edu)
Laurie Powers (powersl@pdx.edu)
Scott Bellman (swb3@uw.edu)

25. Additional Resources
• Partners for Youth with Disabilities: Best Practices Guide
and Mentoring 101: An Introductory Workshop for New
Mentors http://www.pyd.org/res
• US Department of Labor: Policy on Mentoring Youth with
Disabilities http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/cultivate.htm
• National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability: Paving
the Way to Work: A Guide to Career-Focused Mentoring
http://www.ncwd-youth.info/topic/mentoring
• National Center on Secondary Education and Transition:
Issue Brief
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=704
• Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for
Children and Youth, Volume 50, Issue 4, 2006
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/PSFL.50.4.31-
35#preview
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26. Before we go…
All attendees will receive an email after the webinar
that will include:
 Instructions for how to access PDF of
presentation slides and webinar recording
 Link to the Mentoring Forum for resources,
contact information & opportunities to continue
the dialogue
Please help us by taking the time to complete a
short 5-question survey as you exit the webinar.
26

27. Future Webinars
June 21 - Better Mentoring for the LGBTQ
Youth in Your Program: Stepping Up to the
Challenge
Discuss how youth mentoring programs can
better serve youth that are questioning their
sexual orientation or identifying as lesbian, gay,
bi-sexual, transgender, or queer. Panelists
include Christian Rummell, Executive Director of
Mentorist Consulting and Linda Peterson,
Manager of Training & Technical Assistance at
Mass Mentoring Partnership.
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28. 2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series
Thank you!
Sarah Kremer, sarah@friendsforyouth.org
April Riordan, april@mpmn.org
Amber Troupe, troupea@michigan.gov
Candice Singleton, csingleton@iyi.org
Marissa Wilkens, marissa@mobiusmentors.org
Collaboration of Education Northwest/National Mentoring Center, Friends
for Youth, Indiana Mentoring Partnership, Mentor Michigan, Mentoring
Partnership of Minnesota, and Oregon Mentors