Intentional mentoring: maximizing the impact of underrepresented future scientists in the 21st century

Shuler, Haysetta; Cazares, Victor A.; Marshall, Andrea G.; Garza-López, Edgar; Hultman, Rainbo; Francis, Tam'ra-Kay; Rolle, Tiffany; Byndloss, Mariana X.; Starbird, C.A.; Hicsasmaz, Innes; AshShareef, Salma; Neikirk, Kit; Johnson, Pamela E C; Vue, Zer; Beasley, Heather K.; Williams, Ann E.; Hinton, Antentor

doi:10.1093/femspd/ftab038

Cited by 46 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 68 publications

(96 reference statements)

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“…Faculty, departments, and institutions must recognize their URM colleagues not only for their diversity, equity, and inclusion expertise, but also for their scientific expertise, and they should recommend URM colleagues accordingly. In addition, more faculty who are not from URM backgrounds should be encouraged to receive training in intentional mentorship [4,9] and accept more casual mentoring roles to reduce the burden on URM faculty.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This mentorship, termed 'shadow mentoring', is a robust mediation process during which a faculty member, or a more experienced scientist relative to the trainee, provides independent, unbiased mentorship, but does not receive formal recognition for their additional contributions and responsibilities (e.g., counts toward tenure and promotion). Shadow mentoring goes beyond casual mentoring [3], often involving more dedicated and specialized commitment to mentees to create a sense of belonging for women and URM mentees without access to intentional mentoring [4].…”

Section: The Need For Shadow Mentoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shadow mentoring: a cost–benefit review for reform

et al. 2022

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Need For Shadow Mentoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shadow mentoring: a cost–benefit review for reform

et al. 2022

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“…Asking more questions and listening more attentively are responsibilities that educators and leaders can never abdicate ( 56 ). These simple actions provide critical support to learners from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups at all stages of their training, and also represent improved practices ( 57 , 58 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Focused commitment and preparation must accompany plans for restitution through equity-focused mentoring. Medical schools and academic health centers need to guarantee unwavering support of pathways to promotion and tenure that champion activities focused on mentoring and professional development of URiM physicians ( 58 ). This includes institutional budgets that designate financial and administrative support, e.g., valued time for mentoring activities at a scale comparable to metrics defined for RVUs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restitution Through Equity-Focused Mentoring: A Solution to Diversify the Physician Workforce

Walker

Williams

2022

Front. Public Health

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Minoritized and marginalized physicians who identify as Black, Latino/a/x and Native American (BLNA) remain unacceptably underrepresented in medicine. Multiple studies provide a compelling argument for prioritizing racial/ethnic diversification of the physician workforce to improve racial/ethnic physician-patient concordance and assist in achieving more equitable health outcomes. Despite a growing awareness for the tangible benefits of a diversified physician workforce, the number of physicians from minoritized and marginalized groups remains relatively stagnant or worsening in certain demographics. The 5:1 ratio of Black students and trainees to Black faculty exemplifies and exacerbates the increased risk for harmful isolation particularly experienced by many BLNA mentees. They too need and deserve the benefits produced by concordant racial/ethnic faculty mentoring and support. However, these demands on time, resources and bandwidth can lead to negative consequences for BLNA faculty engaged in these efforts by contributing to their emotional, mental and physical exhaustion. Given the perpetual paucity of BLNA physicians in academic medicine, immediate interventions to prevent attrition of BLNA faculty, trainees and students journeying along the physician career pathway are urgently needed. Requiring the implementation of mentoring programs explicitly focused on increasing the number of physicians from groups underrepresented in medicine must happen at every point of the education and training process.

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“…In addition to policy changes, building a network of mentors will provide postdocs with more than just one primary resource for career and professional development [48, 49]. As noted by others, training for both postdocs and mentors (in the context of mentor training) will help with positive outcomes [50]. Subramanian et al also suggest increasing collaborations between research mentors and career development educators [51].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing structural mentoring barriers in postdoctoral training: A qualitative study

Lambert

Nana

Afonja

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: Structural mentoring barriers are policies, practices, and cultural norms that collectively disadvantage marginalized groups and perpetuate disparities in mentoring. While these mentoring barriers can be found early in the training pathway, failure to address or overcome these barriers at the postdoctoral training stage has a direct impact on faculty diversity and national efforts to retain underrepresented groups in research careers. Methods: To better understand the mentoring barriers faced by postdoctoral trainees, and possible ways to address them, a diverse sample of postdoctoral scholars ("postdocs") from across the United States were asked to participate in focus groups to discuss their training experiences. We conducted five 90-minute focus groups with 32 biomedical postdocs, including 20 (63%) women and 15 (47%) individuals from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups (URG). Participants were well-represented across years of training, and 65% were at least somewhat likely to pursue a research-intensive faculty career, similar to previously reported national averages. Results: A social ecological framework was used to examine both the upstream and downstream manifestations of structural mentoring barriers, as well as mentor barriers, overall. Themes were categorized on four broad levels: Individual (attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, or behaviors that inform mentoring barriers), Interpersonal (mentoring barriers arising from dyadic, peer, or network relationships), Institutional (departmental, institutional, organizational mentoring barriers), or Systemic (mentoring barriers originating from policies or broad social and cultural norms). Notable structural barriers included (1) academic politics and scientific hierarchy, (2) inequalities resulting from mentor prestige, (3) the (over) reliance on one mentor, (4) the lack of formal training for academic and non-academic careers, and (5) the lack of institutional diversity and institutional mentor training. These structural barriers foster mentoring practices and behaviors that lead to poor work-life balance, poor communication, and research career attrition. To overcome these barriers, postdocs strongly encouraged developing a network or team of mentors and recommended institutional interventions that create more comprehensive professional development, mentorship, and belonging. Conclusions: For postdoctoral scientists, structural mentoring barriers can permeate down to institutional, interpersonal, and individual levels, impeding a successful transition to an independent research career. It has become clear that large-scale changes in mentoring must come from addressing the policies, practices, and cultural norms that perpetuate poor mentoring. This work provides strong evidence for promoting mentorship networks and cultivating a "mentoring milieu" that fosters a supportive community and a strong culture of mentorship at all levels.

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Intentional mentoring: maximizing the impact of underrepresented future scientists in the 21st century

Cited by 46 publications

References 68 publications

Shadow mentoring: a cost–benefit review for reform

Shadow mentoring: a cost–benefit review for reform

Restitution Through Equity-Focused Mentoring: A Solution to Diversify the Physician Workforce

Addressing structural mentoring barriers in postdoctoral training: A qualitative study

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