When They See Themselves in the Stars
The Importance of Mentorship in STEM
When I tell people I’m a STEM coordinator working with students in grades K-12 in rural communities in Montana, I usually start with a simple fact: I wasn’t handed a roadmap into STEM. I made my own map because someone believed in me. That belief became self-confidence, which in turn allowed me to forge my own way. That belief is the single most powerful thing we can pass along as mentors.
In classrooms and after-school settings alike, mentorship is more than extra help with coding or a science project. For girls and young women it’s a confidence lifeline. Research repeatedly shows that female mentors and supportive role models improve female students’ experiences in STEM. They raise confidence, increase persistence, and make the idea of a STEM career feel reachable rather than remote.
Take for example the moment a student of mine on the Flathead Reservation asked, wide-eyed, “Can you have pets in space?” When Nicole Mann, NASA’s first Indigenous woman in space, answered that, directly from the International Space Station in real time, something shifted. It wasn’t just about physics or biology anymore; it was about possibility.
My name is Hilary Lozar. I teach multiple STEM programs in Ronan, St. Ignatius, and Polson, Montana for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County. I have always been committed to giving rural and Indigenous students opportunities to see themselves in STEM, not just watching from the outside.
Why Mentorship Matters, Especially for Girls and Indigenous Youth
The story of Nicole Mann’s live downlink to the reservation, with kids asking prerecorded questions and hearing answers from someone who looks like them up there in space, isn't just moving; it’s transformative. For many of our students, travel beyond our county, let alone beyond Earth, has felt abstract and unattainable. Events like this conversation with a NASA astronaut turn magic into something real and reachable. You can see the downlink recording here: Scripps News
A few months before our downlink went live, I chaperoned about 50 kids from our valley to Kennedy Space Center for a rocket launch in October of 2022. The awe on their faces, the realization that they matter, that their questions and passions and curiosity matter, underscored everything I believe: representation + opportunity = empowerment. Without that feeling of empowerment, many girls, especially those from Indigenous or rural backgrounds, can’t imagine themselves as scientists or engineers or astronauts.
What the Research Shows
Here are some of what studies tell us about mentorship’s impact, especially when girls are mentored by women, or by someone from their community:
- A peer-mentoring program with female STEM role models (ages 10-12) in Spain in 2022 showed that girls improved their attitudes toward technology, increased their awareness of female STEM careers, and had better views of STEM vocations after participating. The effect was stronger among girls than boys. ResearchGate
- A study of undergraduate research mentors found that students with female mentors were more likely to feel their experiences prepared them for careers in science. PMC
- Online mentoring for girls in secondary school has been shown to increase STEM participation rates and improve grades in STEM subjects. NyaS Pubs
- Another study found that when girls have same-gender mentors (female mentor + female mentee), they more frequently view their mentor as a good role model and gain confidence in STEM than girls with male mentors. PMC+1
Confidence is critical. We find in practice what studies confirm: even when girls have the talent and the grades, they often step back when they can’t see someone like them doing the science. Mentorship changes that.
What I’ve Seen Locally
In my small rural community:
- When Nicole Mann spoke to our students live from the ISS, I saw faces light up not just because someone was talking to them from space, but because students recognized that “she’s Native, she’s a woman, she’s doing this, and so can I.”
- Our Clubs worked with a program called “Students to Launch” to get 48 kids to the Kennedy Space Center. That exposure alone, complete with rockets, scientists, astronauts, visiting the launchpad and more, created a shift: the “why not me?” became louder than the “maybe I can’t.”
These moments don’t erase the barriers, but they chip away at the weight of doubt. They say, “You belong here. Your voice matters. Your dreams are valid.”
How We Build Strong Mentorship
From what I’ve learned and what research supports, strong mentorship for girls includes the following:
- Representation matters. Female mentors, and especially Indigenous women, help break stereotypes just by being visible.
- Early, consistent exposure. Not just one event, but ongoing support in clubs, labs, field trips, and conversations all help.
- Safe spaces for curiosity and mistakes. Building STEM isn’t just about being right; it’s about trying, failing, asking questions, and learning while moving forward.
- Culturally relevant content. When students see STEM related to their lives, land, culture, and community, they invest more deeply.
- Role-models who share identity and/or experience. Even when they don’t look exactly alike, shared background or values amplify the mentorship impact.
My Ask to the Community
I believe each of us, teachers, parents, neighbors, and community members, can either be a mentor or support mentorship in our own small ways. If you are a woman in STEM, or Native, or from a rural community, your story has power. Share it. Come to our clubs. Speak with us via video. Help answer those questions some students haven't asked yet because they thought no one would understand.
Because when a girl hears from someone in STEM who looks like her, who comes from a place like hers, and when she hears “your question matters," the universe feels a lot closer.
There’s power in mentorship. There’s dignity in seeing your own reflection in future STEM careers. I do what I do so more of our young girls see themselves up there among the stars: not someday, but now.
