A Longitudinal Mentoring Approach to Increase Diversity Among Researchers of Neurological Disorders

尽管有许多旨在增加神经科学研究人员多样性的举措，但令人遗憾的是，神经科学领域的少数族裔研究人员的比例和绝对数量一直在下降。这一失败在许多层面上令人不安，但或许最明显的是，更高级的调查人员无法在自己的学科中有效地指导初级调查人员。职业科学家中多样性的丧失意味着思维多样性的丧失，这反过来又限制了神经科学中新想法的产生和科学进步。多个培训方案无法增加多样性并不是对这些方案的控诉，而是说明了方案方法的局限性。因此，我们建议采取不同的方式来解决这个问题。我们的计划基于发表的研究结果，即在培训的过渡点，即从研究生院到博士后培训、教师博士后培训和年轻教师终身教职，代表性不足的个人在系统中迷失。从自我报告的数据来看，关于自然减员的一个主要因素是，由于没有有意义的族裔和/或种族同龄人群体，个人感到孤立。在这个R25计划中，我们建议采用纵向指导方法，在专业发展的每个阶段建立同龄人小组，并利用这些同龄人小组在社区内提供互动指导。我们将从全国范围内招募一批来自代表性不足的背景的实习生，包括研究生、博士后研究员和早期研究人员。我们将为每一批人提供专业技能和指导方面的纵向培训。通过导师/学员和点对点/近对点的导师结构，我们将根据学员的发展情况量身定做专业发展，同时在学员之间建立支持网络。该计划的一个关键要素将是教会计划参与者如何成为有效的导师，以此作为维持计划参与者纵向发展的一种手段。最后，我们将提供进入高水平研究核心和实验室的机会，以增强参与者研究的科学影响力。参与者每年夏天将在明尼苏达州举行为期一周的专业培训和指导。对于跨越职业阶段的主题，队列将一起工作。还将有专门针对学术级别的培训课程。除了现场暑期培训外，还将增加两个正式培训项目。秋季，我们的学员和导师将在一年一度的神经科学学会会议上会面，参加专业发展和社会活动。在冬季，在小组完成在线职业发展会议后，将举行在线视频电话会议讨论。总体而言，我们的目标是从根本上改变有指导的培训，并显著提高神经疾病研究的学术追求中的劳动力多样性。

Despite the many initiatives designed to increase diversity among neuroscience researchers, the sad fact is that there has been a decline in the proportion and absolute numbers of minority researchers in the field of neuroscience. This failure is disturbing at a number of levels, but perhaps most notably highlights the inability of more senior investigators to effectively mentor junior investigators in their discipline. The loss of diversity among career scientists means a loss of diversity of thought, which in turn limits the generation of new ideas and scientific progress in the neurosciences. The inability of the multiple training programs to increase diversity is not an indictment of those programs, but rather it illustrates limitations in program approach. As a result, we propose to take a different route to addressing this problem. Our program is based on published findings that underrepresented individuals are lost in the system at transition points in their training, i.e., graduate school to postdoctoral training, postdoctoral training to faculty members, and tenure for young faculty. From self-report data, a principal contributing factor regarding attrition is that individuals feel isolated by not having meaningful ethnic and/or racial peer groups. In this R25 program we propose to take a longitudinal approach to mentoring in which we establish peer groups across each stage of professional development and utilize these peer groups to provide interactive mentoring within a community. We will recruit from across the nation a cohort of trainees from underrepresented backgrounds, consisting of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early stage investigators. For each of these cohorts we will provide longitudinal training in professional skills and mentoring. Through both mentor/mentee and peer-to-peer/peer-to-near peer mentorship structures, we will tailor professional development consistent with the progression of the trainee, while simultaneously creating a network of support amongst its participants. A key element of the program will be to teach the participants in the program how to be effective mentors themselves as a means to maintain the longitudinal development of program participants. Finally, we will provide access to high-level research cores and laboratories to enhance the scientific impact of the participants’ research. Participants will meet in Minnesota for one week each summer for professional training and guidance. For topics that span across career stage, the cohort will work together. There will also be specialized training sessions specific to academic rank. In addition to the on-site summer training, there will be two additional formal training events. In the fall, our trainees and mentors will meet at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting to participate in both professional development and a social event. In the winter, there will be an on-line video teleconference discussion following the group’s completion of an on-line professional development session. Overall, our goal is to fundamentally alter mentored training, and significantly enhance workforce diversity in the academic pursuit of research on neurological disorders.