Shining Lights Program tackles gender equity in STEM with new cohort

February 19, 2026
by Alexander Rony


As a postdoctoral physics researcher, Elizabeth Dresselhaus had found many excellent networking groups for young women scientists — but she longed for a structured environment to learn professional skills and strategies. So, when she received an email about joining UC Berkeley’s Shining Lights Program’s first cohort, she thought it was the perfect opportunity. The semester-long leadership development fellowship aims to help more women lead successful careers in the mathematical and physical sciences.

“I was drawn to the intensive, small-group focus and aimed to get the most out of the program as possible,” said Dresselhaus. “This was an opportunity to deliberately take time away from work, build skills to better navigate work environments, imagine a better future for people in science, and discuss concrete ways that we can help to build that future. 

“I found exactly what I had hoped for and more,” concluded Dresselhaus. “I feel that we really became a team — supporting each other, cheering each other on, and celebrating hard-earned successes together.”

Shining Lights launched with an inaugural cohort of 16 participants in January 2025, thanks to a generous gift by Gigi Coe and Michael Garland. Now in its second year, the program retooled its offerings to provide better service to its new cohort. Berkeley-based Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral scholars who have demonstrated an interest in improving gender representation can apply to join as Shining Lights fellows. While the program is open to anyone regardless of gender, it directly addresses many of the unique challenges faced by women.

Participants attend professional development workshops spanning a range of topics, including leadership, public speaking, networking, work-life balance, and more. Once the workshops begin, participants can access related books and six months of unlimited executive coaching. 

The program’s director, physics professor Gabriel Orebi Gann, said applicants expressed three main goals for joining the program: developing professional skills, building self-confidence, and establishing a support network.

Four women sitting in raised lecture hall seats listen to a speaker
ELIZABETH DRESSELHAUS (RIGHT) LISTENS TO A SPEAKER DURING THE PROGRAM'S GRADUATION CEREMONY IN 2025.
PHOTO BY AJ GUBSER
I found exactly what I had hoped for and more.
Elizabeth Dresselhaus, 2025 Shining Lights Fellow

Postdocs and graduate students dedicate approximately 10 percent of their time to Shining Lights. The program emphasizes community-building and effective communication skills. Not only does the program improve participants’ professional development, but enhanced speaking and presentation skills also help them represent their lab’s work at conferences and within their departments.

Incoming participants receive professional assessments that summarize their communication and leadership styles and offer suggestions for working effectively with others. Orebi Gann meets with every new participant individually before the program starts and adds them to a group chat. The cohort even has access to a budget for self-organized activities. 

A woman wearing a dress smiles at a lectern at The Lawrence Hall of Science
Twenty-two people pose for a group photo on a lecture hall stage
GABRIEL OREBI GANN (TOP) JOINED STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF (BOTTOM) AT THE LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE FOR A GRADUATION CEREMONY.
PHOTOS BY AJ GUBSER

“This was the first time at Berkeley I really felt treated as a peer to faculty,” said Dresselhaus. “Shining Lights helped me see with clarity the strengths that I have, and I became excited to share those with the community in a leadership role.”

Following the inaugural year, Orebi Gann, program assistant Griffin Dugan, and a diverse advisory board evaluated participant feedback and made changes to the program. Several workshops were rotated out in favor of newly identified priorities, with a greater emphasis on longer, in-person sessions and cohort discussions.

In post-program self-reflections, the first-year cohort indicated improvement across the board, especially in leadership and networking skills. They were much more likely to feel confident and motivated at work and to feel like they had work-life balance. Relatedly, two workshops on burnout had the highest overall ratings. Shining Lights opened up a conversation that young scholars had found difficult to have with their supervisors.

Overall, the first cohort felt positively about the experience. Many members expressed how incredible it was to find the validating community they had been seeking for so many years.

“One person had this wonderful analogy that really resonated with me,” said Orebi Gann, “which is that she had been subsisting on drops of water and hadn’t even realized she was dehydrated, and finally someone handed her a bucket. That made so much sense to me.”

Orebi Gann noted that some female scientists don’t interact with other women in their daily research and need a support structure. She feels that a similar model could work for other underrepresented groups in STEM.

“We’re teaching much broader skills that are applicable in every walk of life,” said Orebi Gann. “I could see expanding it to project scientists, research scientists, and junior faculty. There’s no reason it even needs to be limited to science. It would be great to grow it across the campus and to other campuses.” 

For now, the program remains focused on graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and in UC Berkeley’s Division of Mathematical & Physical Sciences, but its model is spreading. The Colleges of Engineering and Chemistry decided to launch their own versions of the Shining Lights Program. They will be smaller in scale at first and adapted to the college’s unique needs. 

Toward the end of the spring semester, the cohort attends a graduation ceremony at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Perched on a hill above campus overlooking the San Francisco Bay, it’s a fitting metaphor for the lofty ambitions the university has for these emerging scientific leaders.

“Participating in the Shining Lights Program is undoubtedly one of the most memorable parts of my time at Berkeley,” said Mercedes Vasquez, a graduate student in earth and planetary science. “Because of this program, I gained lifelong friends and feel more confident in my future as a scientist.”

A woman leans forward at a round classroom table
MERCEDES VASQUEZ (LEFT) AT A SHINING LIGHTS WORKSHOP.
PHOTO BY AJ GUBSER

To learn more about the Shining Lights Program, visit shininglights-berkeley.org.
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