The first GPS group: (L-R) Alexandra Surcel, Anat Shahar, Hannah-Jang Condell, Evgenya Shkolnik

When we first formed GPS, we were all postdoctoral fellows in the physical or biological sciences. We all worked in the Washington, D.C.- Baltimore area with the goals of continuing along the academic career path, which for us meant, tenure-track faculty positions. We were women in male-dominated fields wanting to get ahead on our own terms and avoiding the inherent biases that women, and other underrepresented minorities, face in STEM fields.

So, we formed a GPS peer-mentoring group in which we tackled our professional problems and concerns, set goals, held each other accountable, and celebrated successes.  Meeting every other week for over two years in a positive, yet exacting environment, kept our focus on our goals, generated confidence in our skills and motivations, helped us get our dream-jobs, and made us better scientists.