The purpose of this session is to illuminate career mentoring efforts that aid the development of Black students majoring in STEM, health, and human services fields. Mentoring has numerous benefits, including career support, emotional and psychosocial support, and role modeling. Mentor-mentee relationships should entail a level of trust, mutual goals, professional skill development, and networking opportunities. This session will share how, by means of culturally relevant mentoring, historically marginalized students can embrace their aspirant careers, build their knowledge, develop their identity, obtain strategies to cope with institutional racism, and approach their careers with a vocational mindset. This session focuses on programming at a Historically Black College, but many of its elements and examples will be of use in predominantly white institutions as well.
Akilah Carter-Francique, Dean for the School of Education, Health, and Human Services, Benedict College (SC)