Juneteenth in STEMM and the barriers to equitable science.

We are 52 Black scientists. Here, we establish the context of Juneteenth in STEMM and discuss the barriers Black scientists face, the struggles they endure, and the lack of recognition they receive. We review racism's history in science and provide institutional-level solutions to reduce the burdens on Black scientists.

A randomized controlled trial of an intervention to increase cultural diversity awareness of research mentors of undergraduate students.

Cultural diversity variables like race and/or ethnicity influence research mentoring relationships, but mentors may not know how to address such variables with their mentees. Using a randomized controlled trial design, we tested a mentor training intervention to increase mentors' awareness and skill in addressing cultural diversity in research mentoring relationships, documenting its impact on mentors and their undergraduate mentees' ratings of mentor effectiveness. Participants were a national sample of 216 mentors and 117 mentees from 32 undergraduate research training programs in the United States. Mentors in the experimental condition reported greater gains than those in the comparison condition regarding the relevance of their racial/ethnic identity to mentoring and their confidence to mentor students across diverse cultural identities. Paired mentees of mentors in the experimental group rated their mentors higher at respectfully broaching and creating opportunities to address race/ethnicity matters than those with mentors in the comparison group. Our results support the efficacy of culturally focused mentorship education.

Comparing the Outcomes of Face-to-Face and Synchronous Online Research Mentor Training Using Propensity Score Matching.

In this study, propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to examine differences in the effectiveness of research mentor training (RMT) implemented using two modes-face-to-face or synchronous online training. This study investigated each training mode and assessed participants' perceived gains in mentoring skills, ability to meet mentees' expectations, and overall quality of mentoring, as well as intention to make changes to their mentoring practices. Additional factors that may contribute to participant outcomes were also examined. In total, 152 mentors trained using a synchronous online platform and 655 mentors trained in in-person workshops were analyzed using the PSM method. Mentors were matched based on similar characteristics, including mentee's career stage, mentor's title, mentor's prior mentoring experience, mentor's race/ethnicity and sex, and mentor's years of experience; results show that both face-to-face and synchronous online modes of RMT are effective. Findings indicated that the training mode did not significantly impact the mentors' perceived training outcomes. Factors associated with the reported training outcomes included dosage (hours of training), facilitator effectiveness, race/ethnicity, and previous mentoring experience. The results of this study demonstrate that mentors' perceived training outcomes are comparable regardless of the training modality used-online versus face-to-face.

Evaluation of a Culturally Responsive Mentorship Education Program for the Advisers of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Program Graduate Students.

Effective mentorship is critical to the success of trainees in research career pathways, significantly impacting their research productivity, academic and research self-efficacy, and career satisfaction. Research faculty may be unaware of or unprepared to address mentor-mentee dynamics in mentoring relationships, especially those that go beyond traditional scientific skill development. Addressing mentorship dynamics can be even more challenging for mentors from well-represented backgrounds working with mentees from historically excluded racial/ethnic groups. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute supports programmatic interventions, like the Mentorship Skills Development (MSD) course, an innovative program that aims to advance the mentorship competencies and cultural diversity awareness of mentors. Between 2015 and 2020, more than 200 faculty mentors participated in the MSD. Quantitative and qualitative data reveal significant gains in mentorship skills and cultural awareness, with mentors reporting increases in their confidence to have conversations around race and culture with their mentees. More than 85% reported actual or intended changes to their cultural responsiveness or mentorship behaviors. Importantly, behavioral changes were also observed by their mentees. These data indicate that culturally responsive mentorship education can increase knowledge and efficacy in effective mentorship practices and improve mentorship experiences of both mentors and mentees.

A system-wide health sciences faculty mentor training program is associated with improved effective mentoring and institutional climate.

Introduction: Mentorship is critical for faculty success, satisfaction, and engagement. However, many faculty, particularly underrepresented racial/ethnic (UR) faculty, lack access to high-quality mentoring. In an effort to improve mentoring for all faculty, we developed and implemented a formally structured faculty mentor training program (FMTP) across UC San Diego Health Sciences, which included institutional support, mentorship training, and department/division mentorship programs. Methods: FMTP impact was evaluated using three primary outcome variables: mentoring quality, mentoring behaviors, and institutional climate. Participants' self-assessed mentoring competencies were measured using validated instruments. Results: A total of 391 (23%) of Health Sciences faculty participated in FMTP. Participation rate was higher for women than men (30% versus 17%) and highest for UR faculty (39%). FMTP was implemented in 16 of 19 departments. Self-reported mentoring improved for FMTP participants with mentoring quality (p = 0.009) and meeting mentees' expectations (p = 0.01) continuing to improve for up to 2 years after training. However, participants were unsure if they were meeting UR mentees' expectations. FMTP participants were significantly more satisfied with mentoring quality (p < 0.001) compared to non-participants, with the greatest increase in satisfaction reported by UR faculty (38-61%). UR faculty reported improved overall morale (51-61%) and a perception that the environment was supportive for UR faculty (48-70%). Conclusion: The implementation of a system-wide formal structured FMTP was associated with improved faculty satisfaction, quality of mentoring, and institutional climate, especially for UR faculty.

Enhancing Research Mentors' Cultural Awareness in STEM: A Mentor Training Intervention.

Research mentoring relationships are critical to mentees' persistence in STEM careers. Cultural identity variables (gender, race, ethnicity) influence how mentees experience mentoring relationships, including their developmental needs and expectations of mentors. Research shows that mentees from underrepresented groups in STEM often want to discuss topics related to race and ethnicity and how these factors impact their careers. However, many research mentors are uncertain of their ability to broach cultural diversity issues in mentorship, or in strategies to engage in culturally aware mentoring practices. To address this need, we developed an evidence-based mentor training intervention for Enhanced Cultural Awareness (ECA) in mentorship. We implemented this 2hr module online with research mentors (N=62) largely from well-represented racial/ethnic groups in STEM who were mentoring undergraduate researchers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. Mentors reported significant gains in skills, attitudes and behaviors related to cultural awareness in mentoring. The majority of mentors found the training valuable, and 97% of mentors reported intending to make changes in mentoring practices post intervention. Our results indicate that the ECA module is an effective tool to increase mentors' capacity to enact culturally aware mentoring practices. Implications for continued research and mentorship education to enhance mentors' cultural awareness are also discussed.

Value, Support, and Advancement: An Organization's Role in Faculty Career Intentions in Academic Medicine.

PURPOSE: Faculty engagement in academic medical centers is essential to advancing efficient healthcare delivery, research productivity, and organizational quality. The authors used turnover theory to empirically examine factors that influence faculty engagement, including both aspirational and attrition-related career intentions. METHODS: Using a convergent, mixed methods design, the authors surveyed 284 faculty at a large Midwestern public university's school of medicine in Fall 2015, Fall 2016, and Spring 2017. The study's questionnaire included a series of scales which informed three outcome variables (promotion aspirations, leadership aspirations, and intent to leave the organization) and four groups (role strain, work-family conflict, organizational commitment and support, and departmental commitment and support) of predictor variables, all of which have been previously validated with medical faculty populations. The scales were followed by open-ended questions which allowed respondents to further elaborate on their experiences in their organization related to each outcome variable. The authors used a hierarchical multiple regression model to assess the effect of each of the four groups of predictor variables on the outcome variables and then employed an iterative thematic analysis of open-ended responses to further elucidate faculty's reported experiences. RESULTS: Organizational commitment and support were significantly associated with faculty's promotion aspirations, leadership aspirations, and intentions to leave the organization. Thematic analysis of participant responses to open-ended questions further revealed the specific career development support faculty desired, mainly, streamlined and transparent promotion and leadership processes; clear guidance to maneuver these processes; holistic professional development opportunities; feeling valued; and supports for clinical and administrative tasks. CONCLUSION: Advancing organizational policy that supports infrastructure for evidence-based interventions and programming for the intentional career development of faculty is an important aspect of a proactive talent development and retention model in academic medical centers.

Videoconferencing Etiquette: Promoting Gender Equity During Virtual Meetings.

Considerable evidence has demonstrated that gender influences interactions during in-person meetings, most commonly, negatively impacting women and persons of color. Pervasive gender stereotypes about roles that were (and are) occupied by men and women lead to implicit assumptions about competency in said roles. For example, women may receive more negative verbal interruptions or nonverbal cues that undermine their authority as a leader, a stereotypically male-typed role. The coronavirus pandemic has led to the rapid rise in videoconferencing in professional interactions; however, little is known about videoconferencing etiquette and how gender bias permeates to this new setting. Although there are many benefits to the use of this technology, it has the potential to reinforce gender bias rooted in cultural and societal norms, gender stereotypes, and traditional gender roles. The well-documented implicit biases that have been shown to favor men over women during in-person meetings may translate to further gender gaps in leadership during virtual meetings. It is also possible that videoconferencing could be used to reduce gender bias, but until we have research to shine a light on this topic, this article provides 10 tips for promoting gender equity during virtual meetings.

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.

Reassess-Realign-Reimagine: A Guide for Mentors Pivoting to Remote Research Mentoring.

Maintaining your research team's productivity during the COVID-19 era can be a challenge. Developing new strategies to mentor your research trainees in remote work environments will not only support research productivity and progress toward degree, but also help to keep your mentees' academic and research careers on track. We describe a three-step process grounded in reflective practice that research mentors and mentees can use together to reassess, realign, and reimagine their mentoring relationships to enhance their effectiveness, both in the current circumstances and for the future. Drawing on evidence-based approaches, a series of questions for mentees around documented mentoring competencies provide structure for remote mentoring plans. Special consideration is given to how these plans must address the psychosocial needs and diverse backgrounds of mentors and mentees in the unique conditions that require remote interactions.

Race and Ethnicity in Biology Research Mentoring Relationships.

This case study investigated how mentors and mentees in biology experience and understand race and ethnicity in their research mentoring relationships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mentors (n = 23) and mentees (n = 15) who had participated in an undergraduate biology summer research opportunity program at a large Midwestern research-intensive university. Interview transcripts were coded using an inductive, thematic analysis. Themes that emerged are presented, describing both participants' experiences with and beliefs about race and ethnicity in research training contexts (e.g., mentoring relationships, lab and field experiences). Although similarities were identified, the experiences and beliefs of mentors and mentees were not always aligned. Implications of the findings for training interventions and institutional partnerships to enhance the effectiveness of research mentoring relationships are discussed, with the goal of positively impacting the educational success of students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in science career pathways.

Culturally aware mentorship: Lasting impacts of a novel intervention on academic administrators and faculty.

National efforts to address the diversity dilemma in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) often emphasize increasing numbers of historically underrepresented (HU) students and faculty, but fall short in instituting concrete changes for inclusion and belonging. Therefore, increasing the pool of senior faculty who wish to become guides and advocates for emerging scientists from HU populations is an essential step toward creating new pathways for their career advancement. As a step toward achieving this goal, we created a novel eight-hour intervention on Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM), a program of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) targeted to faculty and administrators. A previous report of surveys at the end of the CAM sessions revealed substantial awareness and knowledge gains, with participants expressing intentions to use and implement new skills they had learned. In this paper, we provide the results of our thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with academic administrators and faculty, 18-24 months after participation in CAM. Interviews were designed to determine: 1) What changes in self-perceptions and interactions occurred as a result of participation in CAM? 2) What specific components of CAM are associated with changes in individual beliefs and practices? 3) How did participants actively make changes after the CAM workshop? 4) What barriers or challenges do participants encounter after the CAM intervention? The results demonstrate the lasting influences of CAM on participants' awareness of cultural differences, their assumptions about and approaches toward interactions with colleagues and students, and their efforts to change their behaviors to promote inclusive practices in their mentoring and teaching of HU students in STEM. Our findings provide evidence that CAM can be incorporated into existing mentor training programs designed to improve the confidence and capacity of senior research faculty mentors to make culturally-informed, scholar-centered decisions to more deliberately recognize and respond to cultural differences within their mentoring and collegial relationships.

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.

No Room to "Lean In": A Qualitative Study on Gendered Barriers to Promotion and Leadership.

INTRODUCTION: The gender gap in professorship and leadership roles persists in academic medicine, whereas reasons for these disparities remain unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Open-ended text responses to a 2013 faculty engagement survey were analyzed by using the grounded theory and consensual qualitative analysis techniques. The authors grouped 491 faculty's text responses into descriptive codes and three themes: (1) No Obstacles, (2) Barriers to Success, and (3) Concerns Regarding Processes. Demographics of codes were compared by using chi-square analysis. RESULTS: Male faculty identified barriers that included negative views of leadership or leaders. Female faculty, especially those in clinical roles, expressed barriers related to role overload, including that the demands of their current positions prevented advancement or addition of further roles, no matter how desirable further roles may be. Women also shared that considerable self-promotion was required to receive acknowledgement of their work and support by leadership. CONCLUSION: A proposed framework depicts male and female faculty's concerns on a continuum. No Obstacle and Process Concerns were relatively gender neutral, whereas large gender disparities occurred within the Barriers to Success theme. Women's barriers largely revolved around internal obstacles (I can't do any more), and men's barriers largely revolved around external factors (leaders are impeding my progress). Resources are needed to mitigate work overload specifically for female faculty, and to ensure that all faculty are both engaged in advanced career opportunities and encouraged to pursue leadership positions.

Testing intersectionality of race/ethnicity × gender in a social-cognitive career theory model with science identity.

Using social-cognitive career theory, we identified the experiential sources of learning that contribute to research self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and science identity for culturally diverse undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and math (i.e., STEM) majors. We examined group differences by race/ethnicity and gender to investigate potential cultural variations in a model to explain students' research career intentions. Using a sample of 688 undergraduate students, we ran a series of path models testing the relationships between the experiential sources, research self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and science identity to research career intentions. Findings were largely consistent with our hypotheses in that research self-efficacy and outcome expectancies were directly and positively associated with research career intentions and the associations of the experiential sources to intentions were mediated via self-efficacy. Science identity contributed significant though modest variance to research career intentions indirectly via its positive association with outcome expectations. Science identity also partially mediated the efficacy-outcome expectancies path. The experiential sources of learning were associated in expected directions to research self-efficacy with 3 of the sources emerging as significantly correlated with science identity. An unexpected direct relationship from vicarious learning to intentions was observed. In testing for group differences by race/ethnicity and gender in subsamples of Black/African American and Latino/a students, we found that the hypothesized model incorporating science identity was supported, and most paths did not vary significantly across four Race/Ethnicity × Gender groups, except for 3 paths. Research and practice implications of the findings for supporting research career intentions of culturally diverse undergraduate students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

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.

Women and the Decision to Leave, Linger, or Lean In: Predictors of Intent to Leave and Aspirations to Leadership and Advancement in Academic Medicine.

BACKGROUND: The Association of American Medical Colleges reports continued low rates of female faculty as professors and in leadership positions. While attrition and discrimination have both been proposed as explanations, recent literature has suggested that women's professional motivations, ingrained behavior, and perceptions of organizational support may also play a role. METHODS: The authors employed a series of scales informed by the turnover theory (which predicts intent to leave an organization), previously validated and used in business and engineering studies, but rarely used in academic medicine. The authors proposed and tested a multiple regression model to assess predictors (role strain, work-life balance, and organizational climate) for three outcome variables: seeking promotion, seeking leadership, and intent to leave. RESULTS: Survey results from 614 faculty members indicated that gender significantly influenced both promotion and leadership seeking, but not intent to leave. Perceived work-family conflict was negatively correlated with leadership seeking for women, but not for men. Positive views of organizational support and commitment were associated with promotion seeking and persistence for all participants. Role strain was positively correlated with desire for promotion and leadership, as well as with intent to leave. CONCLUSIONS: Female faculty may not be leaning in to promotion and leadership roles because of increased role conflict, work-life concerns, and organizational factors; this seems to be more of a factor for female clinical rather than research faculty. Work-family conflict affects male and female faculty differently and should be addressed in efforts to retain faculty and to remove barriers for female faculty seeking leadership opportunities.

Unique effects and moderators of effects of sources on self-efficacy: A model-based meta-analysis.

Self-efficacy beliefs are strong predictors of academic pursuits, performance, and persistence, and in theory are developed and maintained by 4 classes of experiences Bandura (1986) referred to as sources: performance accomplishments (PA), vicarious learning (VL), social persuasion (SP), and affective arousal (AA). The effects of sources on self-efficacy vary by performance domain and individual difference factors. In this meta-analysis (k = 61 studies of academic self-efficacy; N = 8,965), we employed B. J. Becker's (2009) model-based approach to examine cumulative effects of the sources as a set and unique effects of each source, controlling for the others. Following Becker's recommendations, we used available data to create a correlation matrix for the 4 sources and self-efficacy, then used these meta-analytically derived correlations to test our path model. We further examined moderation of these associations by subject area (STEM vs. non-STEM), grade, sex, and ethnicity. PA showed by far the strongest unique association with self-efficacy beliefs. Subject area was a significant moderator, with sources collectively predicting self-efficacy more strongly in non-STEM (k = 14) compared with STEM (k = 47) subjects (R2 = .37 and .22, respectively). Within studies of STEM subjects, grade level was a significant moderator of the coefficients in our path model, as were 2 continuous study characteristics (percent non-White and percent female). Practical implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

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.