What We Post on our Site
General
The purpose of PathwaysToScience.org website is to promote education and career opportunities in the STEM fields to students, with an emphasis on reaching members of underrepresented groups. The types of content we post include 1) fully funded opportunities to participate in STEM programs (such as summer research, graduate fellowships, and postdoc positions) and 2) resource links. Details of the types of content we post are available below:
Opportunities
The primary focus of PathwaysToScience.org is to promote funded STEM education, research and professional development opportunities to our website's diverse student audience.
There is no fee or cost for posting programs on PathwaysToScience.org.
We post FULLY FUNDED opportunities including programs with stipends, fellowships, scholarships, travel assistance, tuition and conference fee waivers, etc. for students at the K-12 level through postdoctoral professionals.
One of the of largest barriers to participation in STEM education/preparatory programs that disproportionately affects underrepresented minorities (URM) is financial burden. While providing an opportunity to demonstrate financial need in order for reduced tuition is a positive step for programs seeking to increase their diversity, evidence suggests it’s still a barrier to applying; therefore we focus exclusively on FULLY FUNDED opportunities. Student opportunities we currently post include programs funded by NSF, NIH, NASA, NOAA, universities, professional associations or private organizations.
To be eligible for posting, your program or opportunity must meet these requirements:
- Your program or opportunity must have a STEM focus.
- Application and registration processes must ultimately be free of cost to participants; if you charge an application, registration, or membership fee for participation, the cost must be fully waived for applicants who demonstrate need.
- If tuition or fees are typically charged for program participation, the program must offer an associated scholarship opportunity that fully covers the tuition or fees. In this case, the web link from PathwaysToScience.org to your site must land on a page that primarily provides information about the funding opportunity.
- Participants’ education or research experiences must be compensated or free of cost.
- Your program or opportunity must be open to a broad regional or national audience of STEM students/scholars.
Example of Opportunities we DO post include:
- Fully funded pre-college training, education, or experiences in STEM.
- Paid STEM summer research opportunities for undergrads, K-12 educators, or graduate students
- Paid post-baccalaureate STEM research opportunities
- Significant fellowship or scholarship opportunities for high school, undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate STEM students
- Paid postdoctoral positions in STEM
- Paid programs with a Minority or Women In STEM focus
- Fully funded TA/RA positions
Example of Opportunities we DO NOT post include:
- Opportunities requiring fees or tuition, including programs providing partial scholarships, limited scholarships, or loans (programs that provide full scholarships are eligible; in this case, the web link from PathwaysToScience.org to your site must land on a page that primarily provides information about the funding opportunity; see above)
- Opportunities that are too narrow in focus or institution specific (ex. require enrollment at a particular university or department; an exception is made for fully funded TA/RA positions and generous graduate fellowships)
- Opportunities that lack a STEM focus
We review each opportunity submission individually to determine that the program meets our posting policy and best serves our website visitors and our mission. We reserve the right to determine posting eligibility on a case-by-case basis.
Do you still have questions about whether your program is a fit for PathwaysToScience.org? Contact
Cynthia Charles.
Ready to post your program?
Click here to use our program submission form.
UNDERSTANDING DATES AND DEADLINES ON PathwaysToScience.org
IBP includes dates (such as application deadlines, and program start/end dates) in its opportunity listings on PathwaysToScience.orgas a means to assist with student planning. When an opportunity deadline has passed, we do not automatically delete listings from the website. The majority of programs maintain a similar program cycle (including application deadlines) year after year. Even when programs have not posted next year's application deadlines, students may use last year's deadline information to anticipate future application deadlines and opportunity dates.
Furthermore, PathwaysToScience.org is a tool to help students plan their academic and career pathway. In July, we want students to have the ability to browse all the summer opportunity listings, even though those programs are already filled and are currently in process, because this allows a student to get inspired and explore what type of opportunity they may want to pursue for the following summer.
Opportunity postings and updates are accepted on an ongoing basis through the year via our program submission and program update forms. To update an existing program listing, click on the “click here to update this program” link found at the very bottom of your listing. We encourage you to update your opportunity posting annually. We do not consider a program opportunity to be outdated unless is more than one year old.
To post a new program, use our program submission form.
If you are interested in a Summer Research Opportunity, please note that most summer programs announce their application deadlines in November. Deadlines are typically December - February.
If you are interested in Graduate Fellowships, please note that most fellowship programs announce their application deadlines in early fall. Deadlines are typically mid fall through early spring.
If you are interested in a program and would like IBP assistance in contacting that program about its application cycle, please contact us at
contactus@ibparticipation.org.
Featured Links
The primary focus of pathwaystoscience.org is content that fits into the content categories of programs and diversity references. In instances when we encounter useful websites that support IBP's work to increase diversity in the STEM workforce yet do not fit within the context of our content templates, we post and highlight these URLs as "featured links" in the "Resource Library" on pathwaystoscience.org. Generally the "featured links" that we post highlight initiatives with a STEM and diversity focus that do not fit within another area on our website. We receive more requests for links than we can accommodate while maintaining the targeted scope of pathwaystoscience.org so all link requests are subject to review by IBP staff. If you would like to submit a "featured link" please email
Cynthia Charles with the link and a brief explanation of why it might be valuable to pathwaystocience.org.
Diversity References
For diversity references, we post links to an annotated, discretionary list of peer reviewed research results and significant reports. To submit a diversity reference for posting on pathwaystoscience.org, please send link or PDF of the resource, a full citation, and a description of the resource and why it would be a valuable resource to others working to broaden participation in STEM to
Cynthia Charles for review by IBP's Diversity References review panel.
Social Media
Postings on our social media pages are reserved mainly for our donor-members’ opportunities and programs (
for more information on membership, click here). We also post one-time events (such as workshops or conferences) that we feel our social media followers would find especially relevant and beneficial. We do not routinely make social media posts for non-member ongoing programs or for general online resources/links, but will use our discretion to post content that we feel furthers IBP’s mission and benefits our members and followers.
Please
contactus@ibparticipation.org with any questions.
