Similarity and Contact Frequency Promote Mentorship Quality among Hispanic Undergraduates in STEM

Pedersen, Rachelle M.; Ferguson, Carinna F; Estrada, Mica; Schultz, P. Wesley; Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R.

doi:10.1187/cbe.21-10-0305

Cited by 15 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…This finding indicates that the TAD framework might benefit from explicit attention to interpersonal match between mentors and mentees because mentors who perceive their mentees as similar to them may provide more guidance and resources that support their mentees’ competence development. Indeed, prior research has shown the importance of deep‐level similarity, meaning shared values and culture, for promoting high‐quality STEM mentoring relationships 17–19 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Postgraduate perspectives on mentoring undergraduate researchers for talent development

Asif

Edison

Dolan

2023

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Undergraduate research experiences are critical for the talent development of the STEM research workforce, and research mentors play an influential role in this process. Given the many life science majors seeking research experiences at universities, graduate and postdoctoral researchers (i.e., postgraduates) provide much of the daily mentoring of undergraduate researchers. Yet, there remains little research on how postgraduates contribute to talent development among undergraduate researchers.To begin to address this knowledge gap, we conducted an exploratory study of the experiences of 32 postgraduates who mentored life science undergraduate researchers. We identified four factors that they perceived as enabling undergraduate researcher talent development: undergraduate researcher characteristics, research project characteristics, and mentoring implementation as well as outcomes for both the postgraduate and undergraduate. We then describe a team-based approach to postgraduate mentoring of undergraduate researchers that attends to these factors to provide an example that practitioners can adapt or adopt for their own research groups.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, prior research has shown the importance of deep-level similarity, meaning shared values and culture, for promoting high-quality STEM mentoring relationships. [17][18][19]…”

Section: Undergraduate Researcher Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postgraduate perspectives on mentoring undergraduate researchers for talent development

Asif

Edison

Dolan

2023

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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“…Moreover, higher levels of mentor-mentee psychological similarity lead to higher levels of psychosocial support, relationship satisfaction, and publications, (i.e. Hispanic trainees with a Hispanic faculty mentor report engaging in more coauthoring opportunities than peers with non-Hispanic mentors) [16]. Some institutions have required diversity and/or implicit bias trainings for their staff, trainees, and faculty.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have also codified advice from postdoctoral trainees on pursuing a research career in academia, and one of the top recommendations was finding a strong mentor [5]. Trainees from URGs do not often find mentors that match their identity, and it has been shown that higher levels of mentor-protégé psychological similarity are related to higher levels of psychosocial support and relationship satisfaction [15, 16]. Overall, mentorship at the postdoctoral stage remains key for increasing workforce and faculty diversity [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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“… 2017 , Pedersen et al. 2022 ). However, similarity does not always translate to academic outcomes (Robinson et al.…”

Section: Integrating Into Stem Professional Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture and Quality Matter in Building Effective Mentorship Relationships with Native STEM Scholars

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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Native peoples (Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian) are underrepresented in academia; they represent 2% of the US population but 0.01% of enrolled undergraduate students. Native peoples share the experiences of colonization and forced assimilation, resulting in the loss of ancestral knowledge, language, and cultural identity. Recognizing history and the literature on social integration and mentorship, we followed 100 Native science and engineering scholars across a year of participation in the hybrid American Indian Science and Engineering Society mentorship program. The results showed that high-quality faculty mentorship predicted persistence a year later. Furthermore, mentors who shared knowledge of Native culture—through experience or shared heritage—uniquely contributed to the Native scholars’ social integration and persistence through scientific community values in particular. Therefore, Native scholars may benefit from mentorship supporting the integration of their Native culture and discipline rather than assimilation into the dominant disciplinary culture.

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Similarity and Contact Frequency Promote Mentorship Quality among Hispanic Undergraduates in STEM

Cited by 15 publications

References 52 publications

Postgraduate perspectives on mentoring undergraduate researchers for talent development

Postgraduate perspectives on mentoring undergraduate researchers for talent development

Addressing structural mentoring barriers in postdoctoral training: A qualitative study

Culture and Quality Matter in Building Effective Mentorship Relationships with Native STEM Scholars

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