USAID PEER Women in Science Mentoring Program for Women in Developing Countries 2018

Application Deadline: 16th March 2018

Eligible Countries: Mentors and mentees must be permanent residents or citizens, residing in their home country, from any of the following countries to be eligible.

• Sub-Saharan Africa: Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
• Arab States: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, West Bank/Gaza

About the Award: A persistent problem in higher education and academia is the “leaky pipeline”, a term that refers to the disproportionate fraction of qualified women who leave science as they move up the educational and career ladder. Women earn 41 percent of PhDs in STEM fields, but make up just 28 percent of tenure-track faculty. The worldwide loss of women in STEM, specifically from the transition from postdoctoral and junior faculty to senior faculty, has been explained by various reasons including: work/life balance conflicts, a hostile environment from co-workers, gender discrimination, few professional development opportunities, and a lack of role models and mentors.
Without mentors or role models, women receive limited advice about career and personal development. A mentor does not direct, but rather guides, and becomes a colleague that a mentee can depend on and trust. Mentoring helps address the feelings of isolation and marginalization that women in academic settings often report. In a 2017 study, women in engineering assigned a female mentor experienced more belonging, motivation and confidence, better retention in science, and greater career aspirations than women assigned either a male mentor, or no mentor at all. When more junior level professionals are more motivated and confident and have positive mentors and role models, they are also more likely to successfully win awards for research funding, aiding their movement up the professional career ladder.
The USAID PEER Program receives applications from across the globe, with the numbers varying regionally by gender. In the 2015 UNESCO Science Report, it was reported that, worldwide, women make up only 28% of people with careers in science, with regional figures ranging from 18.9% (Asia) to 44.3% (Latin America). The PEER Program has received more than 2,500 applications in six years, with fewer women applying from the Sub Saharan Africa region (just 18.4%, 11.7% lower than the UNESCO statistics) and the Arab States region (just 26.7%, 10.1% lower than the UNESCO statistics). Reasons for fewer applicants from these regions may include: lack of experience applying for international research awards, insufficient time due to other work/life responsibilities, lack of confidence, lack of role models that have won international research grants in the past, and/or few mentors to guide them through the process.

Fields of Study: Science fields

Type: Training, Jobs

Eligibility: 

• Cohorts should be made up of one woman senior faculty mentor and 2-4 women mentees (postdocs and/or junior faculty). Junior faculty would be defined as assistant professors and/or non-tenured faculty members.
• Mentors must hold PhDs in a STEM field.
• MDs with a focus on research are qualified to apply. Junior faculty/postdocs and senior faculty cohorts do not have to be from the same scientific field, but cohorts with similar research interests are encouraged.
• Cohorts must be located at the same or nearby universities in their countries of citizenship/permanent residency, and be able to meet regularly in person.
• There will not be any travel funds provided to support cohort meetups, and videoconferencing is not encouraged.

Value of Award: 

Mentors

• Receive a $2,000 USD honorarium (paid to the individual) for creating and following the mentor plan for mentees as created during their mentor training. Mentors will receive $1,000 after the mentoring plan is submitted following the COACh workshop. Mentors will receive final $1,000 after the final report is submitted at the conclusion of the year-long program.
• Receive mentor/mentee training by COACh Global. COACh will also recognize and feature the mentors during the training in panels/conversations about successes in funding and publishing. Mentors will be recognized for their successful mentorship with a certificate and may be highlighted in blogs and other public facing media throughout the year.

Mentees

• Receive mentee/mentor training by COACh Global.
• Opportunity to compete for small seed grants ($10,000 USD) following their participation in the year-long mentoring program.
• Terms of Seed Funding for Mentees:
  • Mentees will be invited to submit a proposal for a hypothesis-driven, one-year long research project and a plan for mentoring two postdocs, graduate students, or undergraduate students with a maximum budget of $10,000 USD, to be paid to the higher education institution where the mentee is employed. Funds must be managed by the institution in accordance with standard regulations governing the use of USAID funds.
  • The research project should be a pilot, using existing equipment at the university. The funding can be used for supplies and other small expenses but not large pieces of equipment.
  • Mentees should draw heavily on their new, collaborative networks for a successful pilot project.
  • Data collected during the pilot project should be used as leverage when applying for larger international and national grants and funding.
  • Mentees are encouraged to think about how to best showcase their pilot research at an international research conference following completion of the award.

Duration of Program: 1 year

How to Apply: Mentor and mentee cohorts should gather their application materials together and the mentor should submit one application on behalf of the cohort into PEER’s online application system.

Mentor
Each mentor should include the following items in the application packet:

• CV/Resume
  • Please make sure to also include information on international collaboration and success with international research awards.
  • Note where research projects/publications have been led by, or included, junior faculty, postdocs, graduate students or undergraduates.
  • Include relevant training in mentoring, leadership, career and professional development, etc, if any.
• Statement of interest that includes the following points. Statements should no more than 3,500 characters in length (approximately  500 words, or one page, single spaced).
  • The role of mentors in your career development.
  • Why you would like to be a mentor in this program.
  • How you plan to help grow the careers and networks of your mentees.

Mentees
Each mentee should send the following items to the mentor to include in the application packet:

• CV/Resume
• Statement of interest that includes the following points. Statements should no more than 3,500 characters in length (approximately  500 words, or one page, single spaced).
  • Why mentoring is important to you.
  • Why you would like to be a part of this program.
  • How you see this program contributing to your growth as a scientist and future mentor.
  • What skills would you like do develop that will allow you to be a mentor in the future?

Visit the Program Webpage for Details