About Coffee with a Scholar
Coffee with a Scholar is organized by the Mentoring sub-committee of SSWR Doctoral Student Committee and occurs during the SSWR Annual Conference. Coffee with a Scholar aims to facilitate a potential mentorship opportunity for doctoral students by coordinating one-to-one meetings between faculty and researchers at other institutions over the course of the SSWR Annual Conference. More information, such as deadlines and registration, can be found on SSWR’s website. If you would like more information, feel free to contact the co-chairs of the Mentoring committee: Nadia Neimanas and Jordan Goodwin.
Image from Canvas
Basic Questions Answered
Process for registering for Coffee with a Scholar
Indicate you’re interested when you register for the SSWR Annual Conference. Check SSWR’s website for information about conference registration.
Complete the matching survey
Email with your match to find a time to meet at SSWR
When and where does Coffee with a Scholar occur during the SSWR Conference?
Mentors and mentees can meet at any mutually agreeable time during the conference. When the conference meets in person we typically encourage mentors and mentees to meet in public spaces within or near the Conference hotel. For example, CWS meetings could occur in the lobby, the hotel coffee shop, or a coffee shop within a block or two of the hotel. In this new virtual world, we encourage CWS meetings to occur virtually before, during, or after the conference.
How is Coffee with a Scholar different than Lunch with a Scientist?
Lunch with a Scientist provides a period during which faculty and student attendees are encouraged to meet together. Students might meet with multiple scientists.
Coffee with a Scholar matches student and faculty attendees on specific characteristics, including content area, research methodology expertise, and individual identity characteristics to facilitate individualized mentoring relationships. This program is organized by the Doctoral Student Committee of SSWR and is completely free.
What improvements have been made to the Coffee with a Scholar Program this year?
We are continuing to improve and automate the matching process. This has a few benefits. First, we hope it will enable us to make more matches, as the program has not yet fully met demand. Second, we hope that the quality of matches will continue to improve.
We will be providing expanded information in matching emails this year. This will include information about the student, including their year in their program, and the metric by which the mentor and mentee were matched.
We will be providing additional resources to faculty and students to help optimize the effectiveness of one-hour coffee chats.
Matches
Should I still sign up if I have not been matched in the past?
Yes, please do! We continue to expand the program to meet demand and improve the efficiency of the program. We will do our best to match as many people as possible each year and appreciate both faculty and student commitment to this program.
How are Coffee with a Scholar matches determined?
We will match students with faculty who have expertise in areas and topics of high priority to the student. Matches are made by aligning student interests with the expertise of participating faculty members. Interested students and faculty are emailed surveys in December and these data are used to help individualize matches. Both students and faculty members will complete a survey to facilitate matches across four main domains: Research Content Areas, Methodological Areas, Professional Development Topics, and Identity-Specific Mentoring. When students complete the CWS survey, they will rank their priorities for a match across the four main domains. We try to do our best to make matches based upon these student priorities, although it is limited by the available expertise held by participating faculty.
I was matched with someone who is not in my content area. What should I do?
Many students have reported to us that talking with someone outside their content area to be incredibly helpful. These conversations can provide insight into the field or help you consider different lens through which to consider your research. However, sometimes it can be hard to start the conversation. Here are some tips:
Ask the person to tell them about their trajectory - how did they get to the job and the research they do today?
Ask the person about methodologies, professional expertise, or other questions beyond content area.
If it applies, ask them to consider how research from your content area may relate or inform research from their content area and vice versa.
Ask them about general advice. What advice would they give to a person at your point in your trajectory?
“I really enjoyed participating in the Coffee with a Scholar program. Although my mentor and I were not perfect matches based on substantive research interests, we had a great time during our SSWR meeting and I felt that we connected really well. I found the program to be a great opportunity to meet an established faculty member that I would not otherwise have had the chance to meet”
- 2018 Mentee
“I was matched with an excellent mentor who was in high demand at the conference but took the time to have lunch with me and conversation did not feel rushed. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and couldn’t be more pleased with my match.”
— 2019 MENTEE
Meeting Up
Where is Coffee with a Scholar held?
Coffee with a Scholar is held wherever works for you!
When is Coffee with a Scholar?
Coffee with a Scholar is held whenever works for you. We encourage mentors and mentees to find a mutually agreeable hour to meet during the conference.