2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work-in-progress paper will describe professional development plans for an interdisciplinary cohort of postdoctoral researchers. In recognition of the systemic challenges faced by individuals from historically marginalized groups in STEM education and STEM careers, there has been a call to focus research on broadening participation in STEM. At the same time, we are at the dawn of the second quantum revolution, which is expected to lead to radical technological changes in quantum information science and engineering (QISE), the cluster of fields built on the ability to manipulate matter at these smallest scales. As the field and the workforce grow, we have an opportunity to expand in a way that does not reproduce the inequities seen in other STEM disciplines.

Working to advance equity and inclusion in the dynamic field of quantum, we are building a cohort of STEM education researchers who will advance quantum education and workforce development. Funded by an NSF Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, we will support a cohort of three postdoctoral fellows. The fellows will build basic research skills while also learning to synthesize complex new ideas and work across disciplinary boundaries. The research training plan for the cohort is designed to support the growth of the fellows while advancing knowledge in quantum education and workforce development through the convergent quantum research project. These research efforts will be supplemented with a robust set of professional development activities and mosaic mentoring support. Professional development activities will be designed to promote, strengthen, and support fellows’ learning, growth, and cultural competency (i.e., cultural awareness, sensitivity, humility, and responsiveness).

In this paper, we will describe our professional development plans as we prepare for the cohort of postdocs to join. Specifically, we will describe the mosaic mentoring structure that will support the postdocs’ multi-dimensional professional development and the processes we will use to help fellows generate project ideas at the intersection of these disciplines. To maximize productive discussion and feedback, we request that this paper be presented in a lightning talk or round table format in a session with other papers focused on postdoc professional development and mentoring.