Barriers to racial/ethnic minority application and competition for NIH research funding.
Barriers to racial/ethnic minority application and competition for NIH research funding.
复制标题
少数族裔申请的障碍和 NIH 研究经费的竞争。
DOI：
10.13016/svzo-zpdy
复制
发表时间：
2005
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
E. Trimble
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
V. Shavers;P. Fagan;Deirdre Lawrence;W. McCaskill;P. McDonald;D. Browne;D. McLinden;M. Christian;E. Trimble
背景
BACKGROUND
Despite recognition of the need to increase the pool of racial/ethnic minority investigators, racial/ethnic minority representation among National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded investigators remains low. Racial/ethnic minority investigators bring unique perspectives and experiences that enhance the potential for understanding factors that underlie racial/ethnic variation in health and health status. Identification of barriers to successful minority competition for NIH funding and suggestions for strategies to overcome them were obtained from a concept mapping project and a meeting of minority investigators and investigators at minority-serving institutions.
METHODS
Concept mapping, a mixed-methods planning approach that integrates common data collection processes with multivariate statistical analyses, was used in this exploratory project. The concept mapping approach generated a series of related "concept maps" that were used for data interpretation and meeting discussions.
RESULTS
Barriers to minority investigator competition for NIH funding identified by concept mapping participants include: (1) inadequate research infrastructure, training and development; (2) barriers to development as independent researchers; (3) inadequate mentoring; (4) insensitivity, misperceptions and miscommunication about the specific needs of investigators involved in research with minority communities; (5) institutional bias in NIH policies; (6) unfair competitive environment; (7) lack of institutional support; (8) lack of support for research topics/methods relevant to research with minority communities; and (9) social, cultural and environmental barriers.
DISCUSSION
Data from both the concept mapping and the meeting discussions suggest the need to use a multilevel approach to increase minority representation among funded NIH investigators. Specifically, the NIH should use strategies that overcome barriers at the home institution, within NIH and at the investigator level.