Pathways to Neurosciences

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Project Summary Neuroscience research must be transdisciplinary, drawing on the knowledge and practices of such diverse fields as biology, psychology, engineering and computer science. This transdisciplinary approach is further supported by the innovative ideas that stem from a diverse population with a broad set of perspectives. As with many other science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) fields, the field of neuroscience needs to implement strategies that more effectively support individuals from diverse backgrounds to pursue further studies or careers in research. Underrepresented groups (URGs) are less likely to transition from graduate school to postdoctoral training and postdoctoral training to scientific positions in academia or industry. We posit that a sense of belonging promotes academic and professional success generally and that to support recruitment and retainment of URG trainees, issues like stereotype threat, lack of representation, microaggressions, and imposter phenomena need to be countered with mentorship and strategic access to professionals to build a diverse and representative network. Social capital is an additional necessary support to promote professional advancement of URG trainees. To maximize impact on professional advancement, we will focus on graduate students and postdocs and their potential transitions to postdocs and scientists, respectively. Our goal is to increase successful transitions and ultimately diversify neuroscience. Our program, Pathways to Neurosciences, was designed as a social sciences study, using a theory of action that describes psychosocial mechanisms that we hypothesize our program will activate that would lead to desirable outcomes. Our evaluation plan was designed in parallel to maximize useful data for others desiring to design similar programs, and to prioritize iterative data collection that will document how program elements operate over time, as a function of the interactions among elements and participants. In Aim 1 we will establish the Pathways to Neurosciences program and Subaim 1a will utilize a year 1 pilot cohort to optimize program components and processes, including refining ongoing participant surveys. A strength of our plan is that we will in Subaim 1b continue evaluations and adjustments throughout the project. Aim 2 is to determine whether and how the program leads to the hypothesized mechanisms in our theory of action, which are professional networks, safe spaces for interaction, and productive dynamics of interactions. In Aim 3 we will evaluate whether our desired short- and long-term outcomes are achieved by the program compared to control groups. Through this program and strong institutional support, we hope that Pathways to Neurosciences graduates will have increased opportunities and exhibit increased persistence in science and leadership. Ultimately, we will disseminate program design, processes, and insights to others to enable the creation of similar optimized programs at their own institutions.