By Niharika Vattikonda

As the fall semester begins, most internships are wrapping up. Over the summer, you became best friends with your fellow interns, impressed your boss, and met many different people that you hope to work with someday. What now? The best former interns stay in touch with their contacts and update them on new jobs, promotions, projects, and more. Most importantly, they think about ways they can all work together and continue to network in the future, while sharing information and connecting their contacts to each other. But, how do you stay in touch with these new contacts? Here are five ways for you to maximize the benefits of your internship through communication.

By Julie F. Charbonnier

Receiving and giving feedback is the heart of any educational experience, whether it be formal education or work training. As an undergraduate, you’ll receive feedback primarily through grades on assignments and exams. In graduate school and beyond, you’ll receive feedback on your ideas, communication skills, and scientific knowledge during key stages like your proposal defense and qualifying exams.

By Niharika Vattikonda

For budding Scientistas, there are plenty of opportunities to explore the different areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) during high school. While high school may not give you as much exposure to more specialized fields, it’s often a great place to get started. For example, taking Honors and AP courses in STEM subjects can often give you a better understanding of those subjects and could help you out in college by allowing you to receive credit for or place out of introductory courses. However, the best way by far to jumpstart a STEM career is through extracurricular activities. The five categories below cover most of the different subjects in STEM and encompass activities that are easily accessible to U.S. high school students.

By Gabrielle-Ann Torre
                                        
There are more than 300,000 women enrolled in graduate studies in science, engineering, and health fields (NSF). Despite this growing number, women are still deterred from pursuing science at the highest levels. This is reflected in fewer women earning STEM degrees and having STEM jobs, relative to men. Also troubling is the persistence of socio-cultural biases against women in STEM. But such stereotypes are not proven by new evidence, which shows that the STEM gender gap is not based on differences in intellect or skill level. For instance, a recent study found that girls excelled on a nationwide test of elementary-level engineering and technology skills. Additionally, the types of biases that push women out of STEM are varied, complex, and not straightforward to systematically address. How can we begin to fight these biases? How can we encourage the representation of women in STEM at all career levels?

By Julie F. Charbonnier

Have you ever been to an interview and asked what your strengths are? If you were not quite sure how to respond, this guide will help you identify your strengths. Knowing your strengths is not only essential for promoting and branding yourself to employers, professors and collaborators - it can help boost your overall confidence and enable you to work more efficiently. With this self -awareness, you can identify a career path in science that will best fit with your personality and skills.