iACTIVATE: Investigators Advancing via Coaching at the Transition to Independence: a Value-Adding Team Experience

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PROJECT SUMMARY Gender inequities are prevalent and persistent in the biomedical sciences. While women and men are equally likely to enter medicine, women are less likely to advance in terms of promotion and leadership. The effects are significant as women are less likely than men to publish as first/last authors, receive awards, and serve on study sections—all critical measures for advancement. These workforce inequities have worsened over the past 18 months as faculty have been adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies show these disruptions have negative impacted career trajectory and productivity, with early career investigators, females, and underrepresented in medicine groups most significantly affected. Early career faculty, including those at pivotal points in their trajectory such as transitioning to independence, are more vulnerable to the pandemic’s effects due to fewer established funding sources and publishing opportunities. Interventions are needed to reduce these pandemic-related effects and thereby minimize worsening of inequities long-term. Coaching, a practice commonly utilized in business and management, holds potential to be a high-impact intervention for early career investigators. Coaching applies inquiry, encouragement, and accountability to increase self- awareness, motivation, and the capacity to take effective action. The current literature on coaching in medicine suggests benefits for clinicians and administrators in terms of process metrics largely. Few studies have focused on investigators, combined individual and group coaching with customized feedback, or examined productivity and advancement outcomes. This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate a professional coaching intervention directed at early career investigators. Participants will include individuals with a K-level or equivalent award who self-identify as female or nonbinary, with efforts made to maximize diversity in the study. This novel intervention is based on principles of social cognitive career theory, and content is aligned with researcher competencies and informed by early career researchers. Outcomes focus on established hallmarks of success for faculty investigators, including self-efficacy, research productivity, and career advancement obtained through surveys (Aim 1 and 2). These data will be combined with interviews to fully capture the impact of the coaching program by understanding nuanced individual experiences (Aim 1) and experiential sampling method to examine the mechanism by which the program fosters research productivity and career persistence (Aim 3). Results from this study will provide rigorous evidence about the effect of a novel, theory- based coaching intervention on female early-career investigators while offering a scalable approach that can be readily adopted by academic institutions and professional organizations. Dissemination will be supported by the development of a train-the-coach guide and coaching program toolkit. Such interventions are vital to increase the proportion of underrepresented scientists who persist in the biomedical research workforce in order to address the health needs of the nation’s diverse population.