BIODS 360: Inclusive Mentoring in Data Science

Outreach, Stanford University, Department of Biomedical Data Science, 2021

I was a graduate student mentor for the Inclusive Mentoring in Data Science Program under supervision from Professor Chiara Sabatti. I held weekly mentee meetings and developed personalized data science curriculums for undergraduate and community college students from backgrounds currently underrepresented in data science. As part of the deparment course offering, I also participated in mentor meetings and seminars designed to strengthen teaching and mentorship skills. I was a program mentor in Winter 2021 (IMDS’ inaugural year), Winter 2022, and Winter 2023.

A description of the course is below. Please see the linked website above for more information about the IMDS program.

Course Information

This course has the following broad goals: (1) To ensure that Stanford graduate students in data science are intentionally trained to effectively mentor people who may be different from them. (2) To sustainably develop pathways to increase access to higher education and to Stanford graduate programs in data science for individuals from backgrounds currently under-represented in those fields. During weekly class meetings, graduate student participants will learn strategies to create an inclusive environment, approaches to effective mentoring and coaching, and techniques to develop a personalized curriculum with the course staff and guest speakers. They will also be paired with current undergraduates from non-R1 schools with an interest in data science, recruited in partnership with faculty from those institutions. Participants will meet online weekly for one-on-one mentorship where you will expose your mentee to research in data science. During weekly online meetings, you will work with your mentee on a range of activities, planned with assistance from course staff, including planning their course of studies, navigating internship opportunities and preparing applications; tutoring in some aspects of data science; and guidance in engaging in mini-research projects, depending on their interests.