Implementation Toolkit
Workshop Materials
Below you will find everything you need to implement a PROGRESS workshop for students. You can download these materials in their entirety, or choose files individually.
PROGRESS Sample Workshop Materials (Zip Archive 220.7MB Jun1 26)
Planning and Facilitation
HideWorkshop Agenda
The following workshop agenda references corresponding slide numbers in the PROGRESS Workshop Presentation Template (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 19.8MB Jun1 26).
10:00 am - Welcome, Process Overview, and Community Connections - Slides 1-7
Review workshop logistics – the day's expectations.
Promote norms of engagement with the workshop content, speakers/panelists, and one another.
Convey norms/expectations of diverse voices and experiences, kindness and respect for one another, commitment to confidentiality (stories stay in this space, lessons leave with you).
10:20 am - Introduction to the Earth and Environmental Sciences - Slides 8-18
Highlight the Societal Relevance of Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Showcase the diverse careers and work within the field.
- Emphasize how this work improves lives, serves communities, and advances communal goals — perceptions linked to greater motivation and persistence in STEM among women and historically underrepresented groups.
- Foster broad, inclusive expectations of who belongs in Earth/Environmental Sciences and what the work values — reducing stereotypes, strengthening belonging, and supporting persistence in STEM pathways.
10:30 am - Panel Discussion: Pathways to the Earth and Environmental Sciences - Slide 19
Career Role Model Panel
- Expose students to diverse women across career stages and fields in Earth/Environmental Sciences who have overcome challenges to achieve success
- Panelists share personal career stories that:
- Connect their journey to students' own academic experiences
- Normalize struggles while highlighting the attitudes and behaviors that led to success
- Convey that success is attainable
- Role models are most inspiring when they are relatable, demonstrate competence, map a pathway to success, and model how to overcome challenges
- Diverse, inclusive portrayals reduce stereotypes, strengthen belonging, and increase motivation and persistence — particularly when they emphasize growth through effort
11:30 am - Break - Slide 20
During the break, students will mark the First Impressions Poster (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 346kB Jun1 26).
11:45 am - Support Map Exercise - Slides 21-47
Mentorship Network Mapping
- Shift students' view of mentorship from a single person to a broader network, helping them identify both existing support and gaps
- Strategically plan to fill those gaps and build stronger, more diverse networks
- Growing support networks is linked to stronger science identity, better stress coping, and greater intent to persist in scientific careers
Support Map Exercise Materials (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 127kB May14 26)
12:45 pm - Lunch - Slide 48
During lunch:
- Mentors discuss aspects of their career pathway thus far and the value of mentoring.
- Students are either seated at a table (in person) or put in a breakout room (virtual) with one of our volunteer mentors.
- This 30 minute lunch discussion is in a relaxed informal setting.
- The students will be able to move rooms in order to meet as many new faces as possible.
- This activity is another opportunity for exposure to career role models and a chance for students to grow their networks.
Remind students to fill out the First Impressions Poster (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 346kB Jun1 26) & encourage them to get up and move around.
Take a group photo!
1:55 pm - Lunch Recap
2:00pm - Panel Discussion: What Mentoring Means to Me - Slide 49
Navigating Professional Mentoring Relationships
- Diverse women in Earth/Environmental Sciences careers share the benefits, challenges, and strategies of professional mentoring
- Role model stories inoculate students against negative stereotypes and inspire persistence through setbacks
- Women and students of color often seek same-gender or same-race mentors — exposure to diverse role models and open discussion helps students contextualize and navigate their own mentoring networks
3:00 pm - Break - Slide 50
3:05 pm - Growing Equitable Inclusion - Slides 51-63
Fostering Inclusion & Kindness
- Build awareness of social identities and how first impressions shape learning and belonging
- Slowing down automatic impression formation is a practical way to practice kindness and inclusion
- Kindness meaningfully impacts classroom, mentorship, and research experiences (everyone, regardless of their position or power, can take inclusive action as an ally or co-conspirator)
- Those with greater power have greater impact when they act inclusively
Social Identity Exercise Materials (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 1016kB May14 26)
3:40 pm - Communication and Connection Toolkit - Slides 64-73
Building Mentorship Networks
- Prepare students for the challenges of professional mentoring relationships with strategies and examples for effective communication and networking.
- Women typically enter college with small mentorship networks that grow slowly. Intentional, strategic networking accelerates this.
- Network strength, diversity, and size are linked to professional identity, motivation, and persistence in STEM careers.
SMART Goals Exercise Materials (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 318kB May14 26)
4:10 pm - Concluding Remarks, Resources, Evaluation, Mentee-Mentor Connections - Slides 74-75
Mentor Matching & Expectations
- Match students with a local Earth/Environmental Science mentor using a "Birds of a Feather" approach: Pairing by discipline and shared personal preferences to accelerate rapport and social bonding.
- Psychological similarity between mentors and mentees strongly predicts relationship quality and can be established quickly through structured matching.
- Set clear, aligned expectations upfront: mentors initiate contact and pairs meet at least once per semester. Aligned expectations are linked to higher relationship satisfaction and better mentoring outcomes