The Effectiveness of a One-year Online Mentoring Program for Girls in STEM

A one-year online mentoring program produced beneficial effects in 6 out of 7 measures of girls’ STEM development—including stable self-confidence and increased intentions to pursue STEM—relative to girls who had similar STEM interests but received no mentoring.

• The program led to short- and long-term increases in career intentions and knowledge of career paths: Girls in the mentoring program reported significantly increased interest in pursuing STEM-related electives (from 3.48 at start to 3.82 at mid-point and 3.84 at end) and increased self-assessed knowledge of available academic and career paths (from 34.95 at baseline to 39.06 at mid-point and 39.68 at end) over the course of program.
• The program also led to short-term increases in STEM activities: Girls in the mentoring program reported a marginally significant short-term—but no long-term—increase in STEM activities (from 2.80 at start to 2.91 at midpoint and 2.89 at end) over the course of the program.
• The program led to preventive benefits in topical knowledge, self-confidence, and competencies: Girls in the mentoring program reported stable self-assessed knowledge of STEM topics, confidence in their own STEM abilities, and self-assessed STEM competencies—measures that declined significantly among girls who were not in the program.
• The program had no effect on STEM interest: There was no significant effect of the online mentoring program on self-assessed interest in STEM domains relative to the waiting list control.

In short, online mentoring offers a promising alternative to logistically challenging in-person mentoring programs, with small but positive effect sizes comparable to or better than past studies of in-person mentoring programs. Small effect sizes can lead to substantial long-term benefits, and may be increased by future attention to more concrete mentoring goals and planning.

Out of 1,054 girls (age 11 to 18 years old) from German college-preparatory schools who applied to the CyberMentor 2010-2011 program, 312 took part in the study by answering voluntary questionnaires. Of this group, 208 girls were randomly selected to participate in the program, while 104 were assigned to a waitlist control, allowing them to participate the following year. All 312 girls answered an online questionnaire at three points: before, halfway through, and after the mentoring year. The girls reported on their participation in STEM activities (6 items, 4-point scale); self-assessed knowledge of STEM topics (100-point scale), self-assessed knowledge about university studies and jobs in STEM (100-point scale), interest in STEM domains (100-point scale); self-assessed STEM competencies (100-point scale); confidence in their own STEM abilities (4 items, 6-point scale); and academic elective intentions to pursue studies or careers in STEM (4 items, 6-point scale). The online mentoring program matched each girl with a personal mentor—a STEM college student or professional—based on both STEM and personal interests. Interaction included at least one email per week on STEM topics, with support and supervision from a 10-person team. The program’s online community provided personal webpages, forums supporting topical discussions and project collaboration, weekly chat sessions focused on a particular topic in STEM, an information library, and a monthly online magazine.