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There is an urgent and compelling need for systemic change to achieve diversity and inclusion goals in the biomedical sciences. Because faculty hold great influence in shaping research training environments, faculty development is a key aspect in building institutional capacity to create climates in which persons excluded because of their ethnicity or race (PEERs) can succeed. We present a mixed methods case study of one institution's efforts to improve mentorship of PEER doctoral students through mentorship education workshops for faculty. These workshops were one strategy among others intended to improve graduate trainees' experiences, and positively affect institutional climate with respect to racial and ethnic diversity. Surveys of 108 faculty mentors revealed that about 80% overall agreed or strongly agreed with the value of culturally responsive mentoring behaviors but about 63% overall agreed or strongly agreed that they were confident in their ability to enact those behaviors. Through a series of three focus groups, PEER doctoral students reported that they noticed mentors' efforts to address cultural diversity matters and identified some guidance for how to approach such topics. We discuss future directions and implications for using mentorship education to activate systemic change toward inclusive research training environments and promoting the value of mentorship within institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined predictors of undergraduate science students' intentions to attend graduate school and participate in undergraduate research. We used social cognitive career theory to test our hypothesized model using a sample (N = 411) of life science and physical science majors and examined basic interests in these disciplines as mediating variables. Among life science majors, results of structural equation modeling indicated that microbiology interest mediated the relationship between scientific self-efficacy (SSE) and graduate education intentions (GEIs) and the latter variable also mediated the relationship between microbiology interest and undergraduate research intentions (URIs). The model for physical science majors did not provide a good fit to the data, therefore path coefficients associated with this model were not interpreted. Implications for counseling interventions based on patterns of career intention formation in the life and physical sciences are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite evidence of mentoring's importance in training researchers, studies to date have not yet determined which mentoring relationships have the most impact and what specific factors in those mentoring relationships contribute to key outcomes, such as the commitment to and persistence in research career paths for emerging researchers from diverse populations. Efforts to broaden participation and persistence in biomedical research careers require an understanding of why and how mentoring relationships work and their impact, not only to research training but also to promoting career advancement. This paper proposes core attributes of effective mentoring relationships, as supported by the literature and suggested by theoretical models of academic persistence. In addition, both existing and developing metrics for measuring the effectiveness of these attributes within mentoring relationships across diverse groups are presented, as well as preliminary data on these metrics from the authors' work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity training is challenging and can evoke strong emotional responses from participants including resistance, shame, confusion, powerlessness, defensiveness, and anger. These responses create complex situations for both presenters and other learners. We observed 3 experienced presenters as they implemented 41 gender bias literacy workshops for 376 faculty from 42 STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) departments at one Midwestern university. We recorded questions and answers as well as participants' non-verbal activity during each 2.5-hour workshop. Employing content analysis and critical incident technique, we identified content that elicited heightened activity and challenging dialogues among presenters and faculty. Results from analysis of this observational data found three important findings: (1) presenters continually reinforced the idea that implicit bias is ordinary and pervasive, thus avoiding participant alienation by allowing participants to protect their self-worth and integrity; (2) difficult dialogues were managed calmly without verbal sparring or relinquishing control; (3) the presenters created an environment where individuals were more likely to accept threatening information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competency in forms of scientific communication, both written and spoken, is essential for success in academic science. This study examined the psychometric properties of three new measures, based on social cognitive career theory, that are relevant to assessment of skill and perseverance in scientific communication. Pre- and postdoctoral trainees in biomedical science (N = 411) completed online questionnaires assessing self-efficacy in scientific communication, career outcome expectations, and interest in performing tasks in scientific writing, oral presentation, and impromptu scientific discourse. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate factor structures and model relations. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 22-item, 3-factor measure of self-efficacy; an 11-item, 2-factor measure of outcome expectations; and a 12-item, 3-factor measure of interest in scientific communication activities. Construct validity was further demonstrated by theory-consistent inter-factor relations and relations with typical communications performance behaviors (e.g., writing manuscripts, abstracts, and presenting at national meetings). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have empirically investigated the specific factors in mentoring relationships between undergraduate researchers (mentees) and their mentors in the biological and life sciences that account for mentees’ positive academic and career outcomes. Using archival evaluation data from more than 400 mentees gathered over a multi-year period (2005–2011) from several undergraduate biology research programs at a large, Midwestern research university, we validated existing evaluation measures of the mentored research experience and the mentor–mentee relationship. We used a subset of data from mentees (77% underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities) to test a hypothesized social cognitive career theory model of associations between mentees’ academic outcomes and perceptions of their research mentoring relationships. Results from path analysis indicate that perceived mentor effectiveness indirectly predicted post-baccalaureate outcomes via research self-efficacy beliefs. Findings are discussed with implications for developing new and refining existing tools to measure this impact, programmatic interventions to increase the success of culturally diverse research mentees and future directions for research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Numerous federal and national commissions have called for policies, funds, and initiatives aimed at expanding the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and education investments to create a significantly larger, more diverse talent pool of individuals who pursue technical careers. Career development professionals are poised to contribute to the equity discourse about broadening STEM participation. However, few are aware of STEM-related career development matters, career opportunities and pathways, or strategies for promoting STEM pursuits. The author summarizes STEM education and workforce trends and articulates an equity imperative for broadening and diversifying STEM participation. The author then offers a multicultural STEM-focused career development framework to encourage career development professionals' knowledge and awareness of STEM education and careers and delineates considerations for practice aimed at increasing the attainment and achievement of diverse groups in STEM fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high attrition rate of female physicians pursuing an academic medicine research career has not been examined in the context of career development theory. We explored how internal medicine residents and faculty experience their work within the context of their broader life domain in order to identify strategies for facilitating career advancement. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 18 residents and 34 faculty members representing male and female physicians at different career stages. Using thematic analysis, three themes emerged: (1) the love of being a physician ('Raison d'être'), (2) family obligations ('2nd Shift'), and (3) balancing work demands with non-work life ('Negotiating Academic Medicine'). Female researchers and educators reported more strategies for multiple role planning and management than female practitioners. Interventions aimed at enhancing academic internists' planning and self-efficacy for multiple role management should be investigated as a potential means for increasing participation and facilitate advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the numbers of female physicians continue to grow, fewer medical marriages are comprised of the traditional dyad of male physician and stay-at-home wife. The "two-career family" is an increasingly frequent state for both male and female physicians' families, and dual-doctor marriages are on the rise. This qualitative study explored the contemporary medical marriage from the perspective of male spouses of female physicians. In 2010, we conducted semi-structured, indepth interviews with nine spouses of internal medicine resident and faculty physicians. Interviewers queried work-home balance, career choices, and support networks. We used an interpretive, inductive, iterative approach to thematically analyze interview transcripts and develop broad, consensus-derived themes. A conceptual framework based on three major themes emerged: "A time for us? Really?", "Supporting and protecting her, sometimes at my expense,'" and "Hers is a career, mine is a job." This framework described the inflexibility of physicians' time and its impact on spousal time, career development, and choices. Having a set time for synchronizing schedules, frequent verbal support, and shared decisionmaking were seen as important by the husbands of female, full-time physicians. This exploratory study examined the contemporary medical marriage from the male spouse's perspective and highlights specific strategies for success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article builds on assertions in Richardson’s (2012, this issue) Major Contribution on counseling for work and relationship. In this reaction, I expand on the relevance and potential of the counseling for work and relationship perspective to enrich the field of counseling psychology. My comments focus on three considerations to further extend the cultural relevance of Richardson’s work and relationship perspective: (1) broadening sources of dignity, (2) centering knowledge of marginalized communities, and (3) promoting psychologists’ critical consciousness. Richardson’s perspective holds great promise for being a guiding heuristic to inform counseling psychology research, theory, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Scholarship is emerging on intervention models that purposefully attend to cultural variables throughout the career assessment and career counseling process. One heuristic model that offers promise to advance culturally relevant vocational practice with African Americans is the Outline for Cultural Formulation (CF). This article explicates the Outline for CF in career assessment and career counseling with African Americans integrating the concept of cultural identity into the entire model. The article concludes with an illustration of the Outline for CF model with an African American career client. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women and people of color continue to be underrepresented among biomedical researchers to an alarming degree. Research interest and subsequent productivity have been shown to be affected by the research training environment through the mediating effects of research self-efficacy. This article presents the findings of a study to determine whether a short-term research training program coupled with an efficacy enhancing intervention for novice female biomedical scientists of diverse racial backgrounds would increase their research self-efficacy beliefs. Forty-three female biomedical scientists were randomized into a control or intervention group and 15 men participated as a control group. Research self-efficacy significantly increased for women who participated in the self-efficacy intervention workshop. Research self-efficacy within each group also significantly increased following the short-term research training program, but cross-group comparisons were not significant. These findings suggest that educational interventions that target sources of self-efficacy and provide domain-specific learning experiences are effective at increasing research self-efficacy for women and men. Further studies are needed to determine the longitudinal outcomes of this effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women and people of color continue to be underrepresented among biomedical researchers to an alarming degree. Research interest and subsequent productivity have been shown to be affected by the research training environment through the mediating effects of research self-efficacy. This article presents the findings of a study to determine whether a short-term research training program coupled with an efficacy enhancing intervention for novice female biomedical scientists of diverse racial backgrounds would increase their research self-efficacy beliefs. Forty-three female biomedical scientists were randomized into a control or intervention group and 15 men participated as a control group. Research self-efficacy significantly increased for women who participated in the self-efficacy intervention workshop. Research self-efficacy within each group also significantly increased following the short-term research training program, but cross-group comparisons were not significant. These findings suggest that educational interventions that target sources of self-efficacy and provide domain-specific learning experiences are effective at increasing research self-efficacy for women and men. Further studies are needed to determine the longitudinal outcomes of this effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the influence of two contextual factors, parental involvement and perceived career barriers, on math/science goals. Using social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994), a path model was tested to investigate hypothesized relationships between math- and science-related efficacy beliefs (i.e., task and coping) and perceived career barriers to math/science interests and goals in a sample of 227 undergraduates. Overall fit indices supported a model for the direct contribution of parental involvement largely to outcome expectations and moderately to math/science task self-efficacy and perceived barriers. Parental involvement directly and indirectly predicted goals through its strong relationship with outcome expectations. Outcome expectations and interests directly predicted goal intentions. Evidence supported coping efficacy as a mediator of the relationship between perceived career barriers and goals. Future research directions and practice implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study investigated the relationship between perceived family support and coping efficacy in premedical (i.e. prior to entering medical school) students, an understudied subset of undergraduate students who are particularly at risk for academia- related stress. The relationships between students’ perceived academic coping abilities and their academic behaviours and experiences of stress have been considered within the vocational literature. However, an understanding of factors that inform coping efficacy beliefs is lacking. Methods A total of 238 premedical students provided demographic information regarding themselves and their parents. Students also completed a paper questionnaire containing a coping efficacy scale and items assessing their level of family support. Results Correlational analyses revealed significant positive relationships between family support and students’ perceived abilities to cope with anticipated academic barriers as hypothesised. Bivariate comparisons of mean coping efficacy scores revealed that racial or ethnic minority students reported significantly higher coping efficacy beliefs than did White students. Students with doctor mothers also reported significantly higher coping efficacy than students with mothers employed in other health-related fields. No significant differences in coping efficacy were found when those with doctor fathers versus those with fathers in other health-related fields were compared. Conclusions Findings from the present study indicate that perceived family support plays a key role in establishing premedical students’ confidence in their ability to cope with the challenges of academic life. These findings have important implications for further studies on coping and stress in premedical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors focus on the significance of the counselor's cultural contexts in effective career interventions vis-à-vis the incorporation of multicultural metacognition. They briefly summarize and critique extant career counseling models for racial/ethnic minority clients and then describe an expanded model for career counseling that incorporates metacognition processes for addressing counselor-related cultural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues such as, over commitment, insufficient time, and lack of funding, threaten physicians’ entry and sustainability in a research career pathway. Social cognitive career theory is presented as a conceptual framework to critically examine the limitations of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) efforts to promote the career development of physician–scientists. Special attention is given to the unique challenges of promoting this career pathway for women and underrepresented minorities. The authors propose enhanced recommendations for the career development of physician–scientists and research questions for future studies and program development aimed at advancing the nation’s efforts to promote clinical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors focus on career counseling from a cultural perspective, using the proxy construct of race/ethnicity. They briefly describe traditional career counseling and critique the degree to which the myriad cultural contexts that shape clients' career development are incorporated into vocational theories and practice. They conducted a meta-analysis of research that has investigated the relationship between culture and vocational choice variables and concluded (a) that race/ethnicity differences do not greatly affect career aspirations but (b) that there are differences among racial/ethnic groups in perceptions of career-related opportunities and barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]