Bay Path to Present ‘Why Mentoring Matters for Success in STEM’

LONGMEADOW — The Center of Excellence for Women in STEM at Bay Path University will welcome Dr. Becky Wai-Ling Packard to the Women in STEM Speaker Series for a talk and interactive session on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Breck Suite on the university’s Longmeadow campus.

Packard is a professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, where she also directs the Weissman Center for Leadership. She will take a closer look at professional mentoring from both the mentor and mentee perspective during her presentation, “Why Mentoring Matters for Success in STEM.”

Packard will provide guidance and best practices for mentors to help shepherd students in STEM fields. She will also help student participants better diagnose the issues they face, identify priorities, and develop appropriate action plans to best achieve their career goals. Professionals and students across disciplines, career stages, and industries are welcome to attend. Attendees will be eligible to win a signed copy of Packard’s book, Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Underrepresented Students: A Research-Based Guide for Faculty and Administrators.

Packard received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and a PhD in educational psychology from Michigan State University. Her research focuses on mentoring, with an emphasis on how first-generation college students, women, and people of color construct and sustain successful mentoring networks with a focus on pathways in STEM fields.

This presentation is sponsored by Bay Path’s Center of Excellence for Women in STEM, created in response to the overwhelming need for education, advanced training, and continued support for women who are beginning or advancing careers in STEM. Registration is strongly recommended and available at www.baypath.edu/womeninstem.