When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, kids’ top dream jobs include dancer, actor, musician, athlete, detective, and astronaut.

While all of these jobs are legitimate careers (wizard and superhero did not make the list, at least), most are extremely difficult to transform from a dream into a real career. But #4 on the list of kids’ dream jobs was more promising: scientist.

According to a nationwide poll of 500 kids under 10, 41% of girls and 32% of boys were interested in careers in STEM. And that interest grows as children reach high-school age. A survey by Trade-Schools.net found that kids aged 1-7 want to be dancers, musicians, veterinarians, astronauts, or doctors. By age 12-14, the top three jobs on the list are doctor, engineer, and scientist.

Cleary the interest in STEM is there, but most children who show early interest in STEM careers don’t end up entering the STEM workforce.

How Mentoring Helps

That’s where mentoring comes in. Many children have no knowledge of or exposure to the large number of diverse career fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, so even if they’re interested and show aptitude, they might not end up in STEM without some encouragement.

In a panel entitled Leading by Example: The Crucial Role of Mentors, Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron, who was the CEO for YWCA USA and is now the chief engagement officer for the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program, said encouraging children through mentoring gives them a better chance to succeed in STEM careers. She went on to note that studies show students who have mentors thrive in almost all STEM professions.

Children who do not receive mentorship, on the other hand, tend to lose their interest in STEM fields by the time they’re entering college. That decline in interest is probably due in large part to a lack of exposure to successful professionals in STEM fields, and a feeling that STEM careers are too difficult or out of reach.

“You Can Do It”

Reversing that trend, and ensuring a strong STEM workforce in the future, requires the help of those already in STEM careers. Although there are many organized STEM mentoring programs throughout the country, mentorship can be as simple as being an example and telling a child, “You can do it.”

Another panel participant, Capt. Barrington Irving, the president and founder of Experience Aviation as well as the youngest person and first African American to fly solo around the world, attributed his decision to go to flight school to a chance meeting in a grocery store with a pilot, who firmly dismissed the notion that Barrington was “not smart enough to fly.”

Starting Young

Children don’t start real career planning until high school, or even college, but mentoring can start much earlier, even as young as preschool.

Mentoring doesn’t have to be focused on a single career path, but can instead give children more information about STEM fields, and even let them know that STEM isn’t always about test tubes or math calculations. Mentors have the opportunity to let kids know that STEM jobs allow them to be creative, make discoveries, and help people, just like jobs as a teacher or police officer.

If you work in a STEM field and are interested in mentoring, you can volunteer with a local mentoring group, or you can reach out to a school or after-school group to offer to speak about your job, host a trip to a science museum or your lab, or even just answer questions.

Interested in mentoring? Here are some STEM mentoring resources to explore.

• STEM Mentoring: A nationwide group mentoring program for kids ages 6-10 run by the Sea Research Foundation, based in Mystic, CT.
• National Mentoring Research Center: An organization that offers support and information to improve the quality and effectiveness of youth mentoring across the country.
• Corporation for National and Community Service: Information and a toolkit for those interested in becoming a STEM mentor.
• MentorNet: A nonprofit organization that arranges STEM-focused virtual mentorships between college and university students and STEM professionals.
• ManyMentors: A nonprofit that connects individuals to mentors who can make opportunities in STEM become more visible, and to encourage and support underrepresented students who are interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields.
• US2020: Matches STEM mentors with students from nonprofits and school