Measuring Research Mentors' Cultural Diversity Awareness for Race/Ethnicity in STEM: Validity Evidence for a New Scale.

Research mentors are reticent to address, and sometimes unaware of how, racial or ethnic differences may influence their mentees' research experiences. Increasing research mentors' cultural diversity awareness (CDA) is one step toward improving mentoring effectiveness, particularly with mentees from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The indicators of CDA for research mentors are not yet known. Thus, we developed a scale to assess CDA related to race/ethnicity (CDA-R/E) in research mentoring relationships informed by multicultural counseling theory and social cognitive theory. The validation process was guided by classical test theory and item response theory and involved qualitative data, cognitive interviews, and an iterative series of item testing with national samples of mentors and mentees. Confirmatory factor analysis evidenced validity for a three-factor mentor scale assessing attitudes, behavior, and confidence, and a two-factor mentee scale assessing attitudes and behavior. The mentee version captures mentees' perception of the relevance of culturally aware mentoring ("Attitudes") and their perception of the frequency of mentor's culturally aware mentoring behaviors ("Behaviors"). Implications for use of the CDA-R/E scale in practice, such as assessing alignment between mentor and mentee CDA scores, and use in future studies are discussed.

Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA): Validity Evidence for an Instrument to Measure Undergraduate and Graduate Research Trainee Development.

Expanding the scope of previous undergraduate research assessment tools, the Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA) measures undergraduate and graduate research trainee learning gains in the seven areas of trainee development in the evidence-based Entering Research conceptual framework: Research Comprehension and Communication Skills, Practical Research Skills, Research Ethics, Researcher Identity, Researcher Confidence and Independence, Equity and Inclusion Awareness and Skills, and Professional and Career Development Skills. In this paper, we present multiple sources of validity evidence for the ERLA trainee self-assessment and mentor assessment of trainee learning gains. Evidence of internal structure of the initial scales via exploratory factor analysis (Ntrainees = 193; Nmentors = 130) revealed seven factors that align with the Entering Research conceptual framework. Validity evidence for internal structure using confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, and evidence of internal consistency for the revised scale were examined with a larger sample (Ntrainees = 489; Nmentors = 256). Evidence of internal structure and alignment for a paired version of the ERLA was also examined with a subset of the original sample (N = 121 pairs). Each analysis revealed acceptable model-data fit. Guidance on using the ERLA instruments and interpreting their scores is presented.

Evaluation of the Second Edition of Entering Research: A Customizable Curriculum for Apprentice-Style Undergraduate and Graduate Research Training Programs and Courses.

The second edition of Entering Research (ER) is a collection of customizable active-learning activities, resources, and assessment and evaluation tools for use in undergraduate and graduate research training programs and courses. Results from two design and development research studies examining the effectiveness of the second edition of the ER curriculum and a 2-day ER facilitator training workshop are reported. Pilot testing of the second edition of the curriculum at 20 sites across the country (42 unique implementations) with 78 facilitators and 565 undergraduate and graduate research trainees provides evidence that the ER activities are clear and complete and that they were effective in helping trainees gain knowledge or improve their ability to do research. Overall, research training program directors and trainees were satisfied with courses and workshops that incorporated activities from ER. Likewise, evaluation data from four ER facilitator training workshops showed that participants valued the workshop and reported significant gains in confidence in their ability to successfully develop and implement a custom ER curriculum. Together, these results provide evidence that the ER curriculum and training workshop warrant further efficacy, effectiveness, and scale-up research.

Mentors' Motivation to Address Race/Ethnicity in Research Mentoring Relationships.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the motivation of research mentors to address race/ethnicity in their research mentoring relationships, using self-determination theory as a conceptual framework. Mentors from STEM fields primarily in the biological sciences (N = 115) were asked to report their level of motivation and the reasons behind their motivation to address the role of race and ethnicity in their mentoring relationships. Mentors' responses were coded using a qualitative approach, and results were examined by mentors' degree of motivation, previous experience with mentoring trainees from different racial/ethnic groups, and mentor race/ethnicity. Extrinsic motivation and amotivation were the most frequently assigned codes to mentors' responses. Implications of these findings for mentor practices, higher education initiatives, and for diversifying the STEM workforce are discussed.

Pilot Study of an Intervention to Increase Cultural Awareness in Research Mentoring: Implications for Diversifying the Scientific Workforce.

INTRODUCTION: Innovative evidence-based-interventions are needed to equip research mentors with skills to address cultural diversity within research mentoring relationships. A pilot study assessed initial outcomes of a culturally tailored effort to create and disseminate a novel intervention titled Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM) for research mentors. INTERVENTION: Intervention development resulted in four products: a 6hr CAM training curriculum, a facilitator guide, an online pre-training module, and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of CAM training. METHOD: Participants were 64 research mentors from three US research-intensive universities. Quantitative pre and post-training evaluation survey data were collected. RESULTS: Participants found high value and satisfaction with the CAM training, reported gains in personal cultural awareness and cultural skills, and increased intentions and confidence to address cultural diversity in their mentoring. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings indicate that the CAM training holds promise to build research mentors' capacity and confidence to engage directly with racial/ethnic topics in research mentoring relationships.

Open-ended responses from early adolescents: Method matters.

This study investigates whether the length and pattern of early adolescents' (N = 261) responses to open-ended self-reflective questions varied according to data collection method: paper and pencil versus online survey. Adolescent students' (Npaper = 157; Ncomputer = 104) responses from a suburban, United States sample of fifth grade students were significantly longer on computerized surveys than on paper surveys. Students provided higher quality responses (i.e., lexically richer) on the computerized survey. Findings were consistent when responses were relevant to two subject areas: mathematics and reading. Results suggest that the use of computerized survey methods in psychological research with early adolescent samples is both appropriate and valuable.

Promoting STEM Trainee Research Self-Efficacy: A Mentor Training Intervention.

Self-efficacy, or an individual's belief in his or her ability to successfully complete a given task, is a significant predictor of outcome expectations, interests, career aspirations, and persistence among undergraduate students in STEM fields. Despite the central role that efficacy beliefs play in STEM career choice and persistence, few training opportunities have used theoretical models like social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to help mentors learn how to support trainee research self-efficacy. To address this gap, a mentor training intervention was developed to translate the research and theory behind self-efficacy and into the practice of mentoring in STEM. Evaluation data from mentors who participated in (N = 166) and facilitators who implemented (N = 7) a training based on SCCT were used to assess the effectiveness of such an intervention. Mentors reported high satisfaction and significant retrospective skill gains related to promoting trainee research self-efficacy. Mentors also reported changes that they intended to make in their mentoring. Facilitators with varying levels of familiarity with self-efficacy were able to implement the module effectively and provided additional suggestions for further improvement of the training.

A new approach to mentoring for research careers: the National Research Mentoring Network.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Effective mentorship is critical to the success of early stage investigators, and has been linked to enhanced mentee productivity, self-efficacy, and career satisfaction. The mission of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) is to provide all trainees across the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences with evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming that emphasizes the benefits and challenges of diversity, inclusivity, and culture within mentoring relationships, and more broadly the research workforce. The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure and activities of NRMN. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: NRMN serves as a national training hub for mentors and mentees striving to improve their relationships by better aligning expectations, promoting professional development, maintaining effective communication, addressing equity and inclusion, assessing understanding, fostering independence, and cultivating ethical behavior. Training is offered in-person at institutions, regional training, or national meetings, as well as via synchronous and asynchronous platforms; the growing training demand is being met by a cadre of NRMN Master Facilitators. NRMN offers career stage-focused coaching models for grant writing, and other professional development programs. NRMN partners with diverse stakeholders from the NIH-sponsored Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), as well as organizations outside the DPC to work synergistically towards common diversity goals. NRMN offers a virtual portal to the Network and all NRMN program offerings for mentees and mentors across career development stages. NRMNet provides access to a wide array of mentoring experiences and resources including MyNRMN, Guided Virtual Mentorship Program, news, training calendar, videos, and workshops. National scale and sustainability are being addressed by NRMN "Coaches-in-Training" offerings for more senior researchers to implement coaching models across the nation. "Shark Tanks" provide intensive review and coaching for early career health disparities investigators, focusing on grant writing for graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, and junior faculty. IMPLICATIONS: Partners from diverse perspectives are building the national capacity and sparking the institutional changes necessary to truly diversify and transform the biomedical research workforce. NRMN works to leverage resources towards the goals of sustainability, scalability, and expanded reach.

Cultural differences in the understanding of modelling and feedback as sources of self-efficacy information.

BACKGROUND: The potential role of culture in the development and operation of self-efficacy has been acknowledged by researchers. Clearer understanding of this cultural impact will benefit from research that shows how the same efficacy information is evaluated across cultures. AIMS: We tested whether two sources of self-efficacy information delivered by multiple social agents (i.e., vicarious experience and social persuasion) were weighed differently by adolescents in different cultures. SAMPLE: Of 2,893 middle school students in Korea (n = 416), the Philippines (n = 522), and the United States (n = 1,955) who completed the survey, 400 students were randomly pooled from each country. METHODS: Invariance of the measurement and of the latent means for self-efficacy and self-efficacy sources across the groups was tested by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Predictive utility of the self-efficacy sources was compared by multigroup structural equation modelling. RESULTS: Compared to the students in the two collectivistic countries, the US students reported significantly higher mathematics self-efficacy. Whereas the efficacy beliefs of the Korean and the US students were predicted equally well by the vicarious experience from their teachers and the social persuasion by their family and peers, those of the Filipino adolescents were best predicted by the social persuasion from their peers. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided empirical evidence that socially conveyed sources of self-efficacy information are construed and evaluated differently across cultures, depending on who delivered the efficacy-relevant information.