ASBMB Interactive Mentoring Activities for Grantsmanship Enhancement (IMAGE 2.0)

尽管美国国家科学基金会(NSF)的数据显示，在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域，代表性不足的少数族裔(URM)的数量在过去30年中翻了一番，但这些领域的非裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人和美洲原住民的数量仍然悲惨地低于他们在美国人口中的比例。2018年，只有12%的STEM领域的博士学位被授予URM，尽管他们占美国人口的30%左右。同样，在过去的20年里，化学或生物学专业的URM教授的数量一直徘徊在4%左右，尽管有无数旨在使STEM劳动力多样化的项目。这些数据突显了针对STEM管道中的多个点的额外和新颖战略的必要性。作为一种干预措施，以影响URM教授在STEM中的持久性，美国生物化学和分子生物学学会(ASBMB)少数民族事务委员会(MAC)为职业早期教师和博士后研究员组织了一次年度研讨会，提供关于补助金撰写以及职业和专业发展的密集指导。自2013年以来，这些研讨会每年举办一次，在参与者和参与导师中很受欢迎，评估指标显示，参与者获得联邦资助的可能性是未参加该计划的匹配对照组受试者的两倍。在过去近10年获得的经验的加强下，为期五年的增强赠款政策(IMAGE)计划互动辅导活动-称为IMAGE 2.0-将为120-150名参与者提供服务。图像2.0还首次包括了针对来自代表性不足的种族群体的职业生涯中期教师的活动，特别是那些在维持联邦资金方面遇到持续障碍的人。此外，该项目将通过跟踪以前的参与者从任期到职业生涯中期的过程，对形象的影响进行纵向分析。这一跟踪将介绍形象在获得和维持资金以及获得保有权方面的影响。虽然讲习班将是图像2.0的核心，但参与者将通过赠款作者社区获得为期一年的指导。这些社区将由参与者和编写赠款的导师或参与者和编写赠款的教练组成，几乎每月召开一次会议。助学金撰写导师将是内容能干的，并将定期提供反馈建议的发展。赠款撰写教练将接受对文化敏感的职业指导方面的培训，并将激励参与者，帮助他们发展和保持强烈的科学认同感，并在他们做出重大职业决策时对他们进行指导。这些努力将创造一种归属感和责任感，鼓励参与者通过最终提交继续推进他们的提案，并促进他们在各自领域的坚持不懈。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

While data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have demonstrated a doubling in the number of underrepresented minorities (URM) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields over the past three decades, the numbers of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans in these fields remain woefully below their representation in the US population. In 2018, only ~12% of doctoral degrees in STEM fields were conferred to URM, although they constitute ~30% of the US population. Similarly, over the past 20-years, the number of URM professors in chemistry or biology has hovered around 4%, despite myriad programs aimed at diversifying the STEM workforce. These data highlight the need for additional and novel strategies that target multiple points in the STEM pipeline. As one intervention to impact on the persistence of URM professors within the STEM, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) has organized an annual workshop for early-career faculty and postdoctoral fellows that provides intensive mentoring on grant writing and career and professional development. The workshops, conducted yearly since 2013, have been well received among participants and participating mentors, and assessment metrics indicate that participants are two-fold more likely to obtain federal funding than closely matched comparison-group subjects who do not participate in the program.Strengthened by the experience gained over the past almost 10 years, an enhanced five-year Interactive Mentoring Activities for Grantsmanship Enhancement (IMAGE) Program – called IMAGE 2.0 – will serve a total of 120-150 participants. IMAGE 2.0 also includes, for the first time, activities for mid-career faculty from underrepresented ethnic groups, especially those who have encountered a persistent roadblock in their ability to maintain federal funding. Moreover, the program will conduct a longitudinal analysis of the effect of IMAGE by tracking previous participants through tenure and into their mid-careers. This tracking will inform on the impact of IMAGE in obtaining and sustaining funding and in acquiring tenure. Although the workshop will be the core of IMAGE 2.0, participants will be provided with year-long mentoring through communities of grant-writers. These communities will consist of participants and grant-writing mentors or participants and grant-writing coaches, and will convene virtually on a monthly basis. Grant-writing mentors will be content-competent and will provide periodic feedback on proposal development. Grant-writing coaches will be trained in culturally sensitive career coaching, and will motivate participants, help them develop and maintain a strong science identity, and coach them as they make major career decisions. These efforts will create a sense of belonging and accountability that will encourage participants to continue forward with their proposals through ultimate submission and also facilitate their persistence in their fields.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.