Investigating the relationship between participation in the building infrastructure leading to diversity (BUILD) initiative and intent to pursue a science career: A cross-sectional analysis.

This paper presents an analysis of survey data to examine the association between supervised structured mentoring and students' intent to pursue a career in science. Data were collected from students in the 10 Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) research training programs, developed through grants from the National Institutes of Health. Propensity score matching and multinomial logistic regression demonstrated that exposure to BUILD programs-meaning participation in undergraduate research, receipt of mentoring from a primary mentor, and/or participation as a funded scholar and/or associate of each BUILD site's training program-was associated with increased intent to pursue a science career. These findings have implications for STEM program evaluation and practice in higher education.

The intent and influence of evaluation policies and strategies in the philanthropic sector.

Evaluation policies are being written across the philanthropic sector. These policies offer rules and principles that are intended to guide evaluation practice. However, it is unclear what has motivated the development of evaluation policies and what impact, if any, they have on evaluation practice. Through interviews with 10 evaluation directors at foundations that have written evaluation policies, we identify the intent of these policies and their perceived influence in the philanthropic sector. We conclude with suggestions for future research on evaluation policy.

A problem-bound evaluation approach.

Traditional modes of evaluation can be constraining when seeking to improve persistent societal problems within complex systems. Frameworks that assume stability and predictability may not match the system dynamics within which a program resides. This paper seeks to further evaluators' understanding of how to improve problems in complex systems by offering a "problem-bound" evaluation approach. This model is grounded in theoretical concepts from complexity science, complex adaptive systems, systems thinking, and improvement science. As such, it provides an agile and flexible framework for continually learning from emergent findings related to the problem. By offering this model, we seek to contribute to the limited knowledge base on how to apply systems change theoretical ideas in evaluation practice, along with practical implications regarding the evaluator's role.

Willingness to work among males on parole: A quantitative and qualitative analysis.

This study investigated employment attitudes of adult males who were recently released from prison and onto parole. The study investigated the role of willingness to work entry-level jobs, an understudied variable in career development of justice-involved persons. We hypothesized that criminal thinking and perception of barriers would each have a direct effect on job search self-efficacy and a direct and indirect effect on willingness to work entry-level jobs, through job search self-efficacy. We also predicted that criminal thinking and perception of barriers would each have an indirect effect on career aspirations within a job, through job search self-efficacy and willingness to work entry-level jobs. Results confirmed these hypotheses. Results of two serial mediation analyses indicated that perceiving more barriers to work predicted less job search self-efficacy, less job search self-efficacy predicted less willingness to work entry-level jobs, and less willingness to work entry-level jobs predicted lower career aspirations. Similarly, higher reactive criminal thinking predicted less job search self-efficacy, less job search self-efficacy predicted less willingness to work entry-level jobs, and less willingness to work entry-level jobs predicted lower career aspirations. Results of qualitative analysis indicated that the vast majority of parolees planned to work in entry-level jobs within the first few months of release from prison. The study sheds light on the work attitudes of males who leave prison and what factors may influence their willingness to work entry-level jobs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Theoretical and conceptual frameworks across local evaluation efforts in a nationwide consortium.

This paper describes the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used to guide the site-level evaluations of Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) programs, part of the Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), funded by the National Institutes of Health. We aim to provide an understanding of which theories informed the evaluation work of the DPC and how the frameworks guiding BUILD site-level evaluations are conceptually aligned with one another and with the consortium-level evaluation.

Employment Perceptions of Parolees: The Role of Perceived Barriers and Criminal Thinking.

This study explored offenders' perception of their barriers to employment and investigated the role of criminal attitudes in parolees recently released from prison. An analysis of open-ended responses from offenders indicated that they perceived having a criminal record as the largest barrier to employment. Structural equation modeling, utilizing a cross-sectional design, indicated moderate support for a model of criminal thinking as a predictor of perceived barriers and of self-efficacy. Survey results also found that criminal attitudes have a positive direct relationship with perception of barriers in work and education, with perception of barriers increasing as criminal thinking increases. Furthermore, criminal thinking has a negative direct relationship with job search self-efficacy, with job search self-efficacy decreasing as criminal thinking increases. Criminal thinking also had an indirect relationship with career aspirations through job search self-efficacy. Findings have implications for vocational programming for parolees.

Baseline Characteristics of the 2015-2019 First Year Student Cohorts of the NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Program.

Objective: The biomedical/behavioral sciences lag in the recruitment and advancement of students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. In 2014 the NIH created the Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), a prospective, multi-site study comprising 10 Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) institutional grantees, the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and a Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC). This article describes baseline characteristics of four incoming, first-year student cohorts at the primary BUILD institutions who completed the Higher Education Research Institute, The Freshmen Survey between 2015-2019. These freshmen are the primary student cohorts for longitudinal analyses comparing outcomes of BUILD program participants and non-participants. Design: Baseline description of first-year students entering college at BUILD institutions during 2015-2019. Setting: Ten colleges/universities that each received <$7.5mil/yr in NIH Research Project Grants and have high proportions of low-income students. Participants: First-year undergraduate students who participated in BUILD-sponsored activities and a sample of non-BUILD students at the same BUILD institutions. A total of 32,963 first-year students were enrolled in the project; 64% were female, 18% Hispanic/Latinx, 19% African American/Black, 2% American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 17% Asian, and 29% White. Twenty-seven percent were from families with an income <$30,000/yr and 25% were their family's first generation in college. Planned Outcomes: Primary student outcomes to be evaluated over time include undergraduate biomedical degree completion, entry into/completion of a graduate biomedical degree program, and evidence of excelling in biomedical research and scholarship. Conclusions: The DPC national evaluation has identified a large, longitudinal cohort of students with many from groups historically underrepresented in the biomedical sciences that will inform institutional/national policy level initiatives to help diversify the biomedical workforce.

Using collaborative approaches with a multi-method, multi-site, multi-target intervention: evaluating the National Research Mentoring Network.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The NIH-funded National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) aims to increase the representation and success of underrepresented groups (URGs) in biomedical research by enhancing the training and career development of individuals from diverse backgrounds, communities, and cultures. The national scope of NRMN, its wide array of innovative programs in mentor and mentee matching and training across the career spectrum, requires a collaborative evaluation strategy that addresses both internal and external evaluation needs. Due to the variety of programs implemented for each target group, the NRMN program is responsible for its own process and short-term outcome evaluations and the national Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC) is responsible for assessing the medium and long-term effectiveness of the implemented strategies and program sustainability. Using a collaborative, utilization-focused evaluation framework, both internal NRMN evaluators and the CEC are working to translate findings into information that can be used to make both short term and long-term decisions about the efficacy and reach of the NRMN model. This important information can then inform efforts to institutionalize the current programs and potentially replicate them elsewhere. PROGRAM AND KEY HIGHLIGHTS: The overall evaluation of NRMN is guided by both outcome and process questions that are tailored for each target group. The different target groups include faculty and others who serve as mentors, mentees across academic training and career stages, and researchers without a history of independently funded research. NRMN is also building the capacity for training those pursuing biomedical careers by developing "master trainers" for both mentoring and grantsmanship programs in organizations and institutions that can support expanded training efforts aimed at diversifying the biomedical workforce. IMPLICATIONS: Results of this evaluation will be used to inform the design and implementation of sustainable, effective, and comprehensive mentoring and career development initiatives that promote diversity in the biomedical research workforce. Our collaborative evaluation design, theoretically-derived measurement instruments, efficient data systems, and timely reporting serve as an example of how to put evaluation principles described into practice for large, multi-site, and multi-dimensional research training programs like NRMN.

Impact of web-based case conferencing on cancer genetics training outcomes for community-based clinicians.

INTRODUCTION: Technology and market forces are driving the demand for cancer risk assessment services in the community setting, where few clinicians are trained to order and interpret predictive genetic tests. City of Hope conducts a three-phase course in genetic cancer risk assessment (GCRA) for community-based clinicians, comprised of distance didactics, face-to-face workshops, and 12 months of professional development. As designed, the course cannot meet increasing demands for GCRA training. Action research identified face-to-face workshops as a barrier to increasing course capacity. This study compared the learning effectiveness of Web-based case conferencing to face-to-face training. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design compared pre- to post-knowledge, skills, and professional self-efficacy outcomes from 2009 to 2010 course cohorts (n = 96). The intervention group (n = 52) engaged in Web-based case conferences during distance learning; the comparison group (n = 44) participated in the course as originally designed. RESULTS: Both groups and all practice disciplines demonstrated significant pre- to post-increases on all measures. Knowledge increases were higher for the intervention group (p < 0.015); skills and self-efficacy increases were comparable between groups (p < 0.33 and p < 0.30, respectively). DISCUSSION: Findings support the learning utility of Web-based case conferencing. Further studies may inform the development of tools to assess the impact of Web-based case conferencing on practice change and patient outcomes, in alignment with the highest standards of continuing professional development.

Strengthening families and communities to prevent child abuse and neglect: lessons from the Los Angeles Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project.

The Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project, funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), is a community-specific strategy delivered through eight regional networks designed to address the full spectrum of community-based prevention. This article summarizes a strong and meaningful pattern of improvements found in the second year evaluation for three groups of families--those living in high-risk communities but not involved with DCFS, those being investigated by DCFS for possible child maltreatment, and those with open DCFS cases.