{"674300":{"#nid":"674300","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Women-Centered Mentorship Provides Empowerment to Conquer Ph.D.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBreanna Shi, a student in the bioinformatics Ph.D. program, discovered the importance of student-led support groups early on in her graduate education journey. Since then, she has taken on a variety of mentorship roles, including co-organizing the 2024 Women Computational Biology Cohort with fellow Ph.D. bioinformatics student Zoey Yang.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore the Women Computational Biology cohort, I felt a strong desire to have more community with my fellow graduate students,\u201d said Shi. \u201cThe program has done so much to help women like Zoey and myself derive a sense of community in our work, and we want to be a part of seeing this community help the next generation of female scientists.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShi and Yang share the importance of developing women-centered communities and provide their insight into developing a community.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EProvide a safe space for discussion.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPursuing a graduate degree is difficult,\u201d said Yang. \u201cPursuing a graduate degree as a woman is particularly hard. Women are often given specific expectations by our society. Pursuing advanced degrees may often be seen as \u2018too ambitious\u2019 or \u2018unnecessary\u2019 for women.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the cohort, Yang had the opportunity to meet other women scientists every month to discuss their experience in doing computational biology research.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs women in male-dominated research areas, our experience and struggles are unique.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cohort provided a safe space to talk about different aspects of their prospective career, mental health, and life in general.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe understand each other, and we support each other with constructive advice,\u201d said Yang.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EMeet with Like-Minded Peers of Diverse Perspectives.\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Shi, the women in their cohort help each other navigate the academic environment, empowering them to tackle the challenges they will inevitably face in a Ph.D. program.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cI feel that women are better able to reach their goals through this program because of the diversity of perspective and experience levels that this program allows Ph.D. students to encounter,\u201d said Shi. \u201cEach woman in my cohort contributes a different perspective on her graduate experience, which collectively serves all new women graduate students to walk forward in her Ph.D. confident and prepared for the challenges she will conquer in her Ph.D.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EWalk away from meetings with a plan of action.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the beginning of Shi\u2019s third year, she was distressed. The idea for her thesis was not working, and she did not have any other ideas.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI spoke to some of the women from my program that were able to help me feel more confident defending my ideas with my advisor,\u201d said Shi. \u201cAt my next meeting, I was able to come to a consensus about a new direction to take my thesis. I brought this idea to my faculty mentor, and she helped to make a plan for my proposal and my first publication.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003ECombat feelings of isolation.\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Shi, there were many times in the beginning of her Ph.D. when she felt isolated. She wondered if the challenges she was experiencing were normal.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAvery Davis Bell, postdoctoral scholar in the School of Biological Sciences, launched the Women Computational Biology Cohort with Professor Lynn Kamerlin to provide graduate women and gender minorities with a faculty mentor and to host events aimed at empowering these students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cConversations with Avery and other women in my cohort have completely changed my perspective on graduate school,\u201d said Shi.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe advice given during their meetups have been invaluable to Shi\u2019s growth and success as a Ph.D. student.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cAvery has been a huge advocate for me during this program,\u201d said Shi. \u201cShe is always ready to give advice, support my ideas, and help me to grow as a female leader. She has actively shown me time and time again her passion for empowering the next generation of female scientists. I feel lucky to learn from her experience as I try to give back the experience I was given.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003ELaunching Your Own Community.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShi gives the following tips for starting your own community:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStart with something simple.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cGo get a cup of coffee with someone new in your department,\u201d said Shi. \u201cFind out what graduate students in your department need and find people who are willing to get the work done. It takes a good team to build a community.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDon\u2019t be afraid to ask for help.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cYour department is likely more than willing to help you start a new graduate community,\u201d said Shi. \u201cThis will help you identify the people who are passionate about your ideas.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDo the work to maintain your community. \u003C\/strong\u003E\u201cThe best strategy that you can have to create a supportive community is to realize that community building is an active role, not a passive role,\u201d said Shi.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe 2024 Women Computational Biology Cohort will be accepting applications this summer. Applications are open to all women and gender minority Ph.D. students who research computational biology regardless of major. Faculty willing to serve as mentors and women interested in the program should email Breanna Shi.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETwo grad students share the importance of developing women-centered communities and provide their insight into developing a community.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Two grad students share the importance of developing women-centered communities and provide their insight into developing a community.\u00a0"}],"uid":"36249","created_gmt":"2024-04-22 16:59:44","changed_gmt":"2024-04-26 16:19:30","author":"Sara Franc","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673793":{"id":"673793","type":"image","title":"Women-Led Mentorship Cohort","body":null,"created":"1713805200","gmt_created":"2024-04-22 17:00:00","changed":"1713805200","gmt_changed":"2024-04-22 17:00:00","alt":"Women-Led Mentorship Cohort","file":{"fid":"257231","name":"women-led-cohort.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/22\/women-led-cohort.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/22\/women-led-cohort.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":343738,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/04\/22\/women-led-cohort.jpg?itok=pETokL69"}}},"media_ids":["673793"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1808","name":"graduate students"},{"id":"69901","name":"Postdocs"},{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"},{"id":"193266","name":"cos-research"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sara.franc@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESara Franc\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nOffice of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}