NRMN’s Chris Sorkness and Chris Pfund begin work as editors for Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching special issue
Christine Sorkness, RPh, PharmD, and Christine Pfund, PhD, have begun their work as editors for the special journal issue of the Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching, titled “Mentorship Across Career Stages in Biomedical & Health Sciences Fields.” This project, organized by the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) will include manuscripts submitted by Diversity Program Consortium teams from across the country.
The editors want to acknowledge NRMN community member Nora Dominguez, PhD, MBA, who has been a driving force behind this special issue both in concept and in securing funding. More than 20 manuscript proposals were submitted and a subset has been accepted. Thanks to everyone who submitted proposals for consideration! The team anticipates the special issue will be published in May 2024.
New NRMN publication explores efficacy of a group peer mentoring program for diverse biomedical researchers in academic medicine
Read “Randomized controlled trial of a group peer mentoring model for U.S. academic medicine research faculty.”
The article can be accessed online through the Cambridge University Press.
About: A new publication from the NRMN U01 research project team at Brandeis University explores a study that assesses the “efficacy of a group peer mentoring program for diverse biomedical researchers in academic medicine, seeking to improve vitality, career advancement, and cross-cultural competence.” The team looked at a group of 40 early midcareer research faculty from 16 states, who had first-time NIH R01 (or equivalent) awards, a K training grant or a similar major grant. After implementing a yearlong intervention of facilitated, structured group peer mentoring, the research team looked at a variety of topics including vitality, self-efficacy for career advancement, cognitive empathy and more.
Citation: Pololi, L., Evans, A., Brimhall-Vargas, M., Civian, J., Cooper, L., Gibbs, B., . . . Brennan, R. (2023). Randomized controlled trial of a group peer mentoring model for U.S. academic medicine research faculty. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 7(1), E174. doi:10.1017/cts.2023.589
Investigating the relationship between participation in BUILD and intent to pursue a science career
Read “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,” authored by members of the Coordination and Evaluation Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The article will be included in the February 2024 issue of the journal Evaluation and Program Planning. It is available for full access through Science Direct.
Abstract: 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.
Citation: Ramos, H. V., Cobian, K. P., Srinivasan, J., Christie, C. A., Crespi, C. M., & Seeman, T. E. (2024). 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. Evaluation and Program Planning, 102, 102380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2023.102380
CEC updates technical report evaluating post-secondary student outcomes
The Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) published an update to the technical report, “Evaluation of Post-secondary Student Outcomes: Defining Well-Represented (WRG) and Underrepresented (URG) Groups in the Diversity Program Consortium’s Enhance Diversity Study using the November 2019 NIH Guidelines.” Additional information from a recent presentation of this report can be requested using the CEC request form.
Download the technical report (PDF).
Abstract: The purpose of this technical report is to describe the coding procedures for well-represented (WRG) and underrepresented (URG) groups of students participating in the Diversity Program Consortium (DPC) Enhance Diversity Study and subsequent consortium-wide analyses. This report details coding recommendations for WRG and URG consistent with groups that the National Institutes of Health have identified as underrepresented in the biomedical research enterprise to guide primary DPC analyses. Where appropriate, the report details further refined WRG and URG designations that can be considered for secondary DPC analyses, while focusing on describing the coding of WRG and URG with existing post-secondary student survey data. Technical Report guidance on constructing URG/WRG variables was first published in August 2020. The report was re-published in November 2023 with updated mapping of subsequent student surveys (2021-23) and final URG coding decisions represented in distributed data sets.
Citation: Maccalla, N.M.G., Gutierrez, A., Zhong, S., Wallace, S.P., McCreath, H.E., & Eagan, K. (2023). Updated TECHNICAL REPORT: Evaluation of Post-secondary Student Outcomes: Defining Well-Represented (WRG) and Underrepresented (URG) Groups in the Diversity Program Consortium’s Enhance Diversity Study using the November 2019 NIH Guidelines. Los Angeles, CA: Diversity Program Consortium Coordination and Evaluation Center at UCLA.
New CEC data brief explores mentoring satisfaction during COVID-19
The Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) published a new data brief exploring Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) and non-BUILD student satisfaction with mentoring in the first year of the pandemic.
"Satisfaction with Mentoring During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Reports from The Enhance Diversity Study, 2021 Student Annual Follow-up Survey” is available to download (PDF).
Summary: Effective mentorship can increase the success of college students from underrepresented groups (URG) who pursue science, technology, engineering, math and medicine (STEMM) degrees and intend to enter the STEMM workforce. Many undergraduate STEMM student support programs have incorporated mentoring practices with the goal of ensuring URG students successfully continue in their career paths. The Enhance Diversity Study (EDS) surveys current and former students at the university campuses where the BUILD programs are implemented. This brief describes student ratings of mentor quality, satisfaction with mentoring, mentoring expectation fulfillment and changes in access to mentors one year into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as reported in the 2021 EDS Student Annual Follow Up Survey. Results showed that students involved in BUILD reported higher quality and satisfaction of mentoring than students not associated with the program. BUILD students were also more likely to report that their access to mentors did not change during the first year of the pandemic, as opposed to the decline in access experienced by non-BUILD students.
To read other CEC data briefs, technical reports and other publications, visit the DPC’s Resource Center. Contact Cynthia Joseph at cjjoseph@mednet.ucla.edu with any questions.
The Diversity Program Consortium Coordination and Evaluation Center at UCLA is supported by Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health / National Institutes of General Medical Sciences under award number U54GM119024.
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