The Navigator: Role of the Cultural Mentor in Ensuring the Evolution of Diverse STEM Scientists and Researchers in the 21st Century and Beyond.

Have you ever been lost? Knowing where you want to go yet unsure how to get there? In today's contemporary society you deploy the use of a navigator or navigation system. This is also one role of the cultural mentor in ensuring diverse students complete with excellence and success their route to research and education. The responsibilities of the cultural mentor are broad and the opportunity to expand one's own personal and professional success in science and society is immense. There remains a critical need and challenge to increase the representation of underrepresented people in the sciences. To address this challenge a navigational mentoring approach was developed centered on the incorporation of traditional knowledge into modern research and education. The approach incorporates defining cultural/personal choices for a STEM vocation, developing science research with a "purpose", and refining leadership. The model incorporates a mentor's personal oral histories and experiences in education, research and life. The goal is to ensure the next generation of scientists and researchers are more diverse, highly educated, experienced and leadership orientated by the time they complete STEM programs - then by the time they are our age, have our level of education and experience.