Remote Mentoring Young Females in STEM through MAGIC

Abstract: The limited representation of women in STEM workforce is a concerning national issue. It has been found that the gender stratification is not due to the lack of talent amongst young females, but due to the lack of access to female role models. To this end, "remote mentoring" is an effective way to offer nation-wide personalized STEM mentoring to young females from all segments of the society. In this paper, we introduce MAGIC, an organization dedicated to mentoring young females in STEM through remote methods. We conduct a retrospective study of MAGIC's formative years and present our experience in remotely establishing 23 highly tailored mentor-mentee pairs. We provide several key findings on STEM remote mentoring, such as popular communication tools, frequently sought STEM skills among girls, and projects that could be accomplished through remote mentoring. Furthermore, we present key challenges faced by mentors and mentees, notable outcomes, and lessons learnt about remote mentoring.