Understanding the Science of Effective Mentorship Networks for Underrepresented Researchers

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Project Summary/Abstract Our long-term goal is to identify the factors that contribute to effective mentorship networks for researchers from underrepresented (UR) groups. Effective mentorship is critical for the retention of early career researchers in academia. However, researchers from UR groups are less likely to have effective mentorship, which contributes to disparities in grant funding and faculty representation. Current trends suggest that dyadic mentorship, which is the most common form of mentorship, may not be the most effective form of mentorship, especially for underrepresented groups, since it relies on one person to provide many aspects of academic and psychosocial support. We hypothesize that mentorship networks, which involve multiple mentors with various roles, is a more effective model than mentorship dyads for the retention and success of underrepresented researchers in academia. How mentorship networks affect research success and what characteristics of a mentorship network are important for early career UR researchers are not well-understood. We have developed a new tool called Mentorship Network Analysis that assesses and maps the mentoring network of individuals. We will validate this tool and retrospectively characterize successful mentoring networks of UR career development (K) grant recipients. Then, we will test the feasibility of an intervention that helps UR researchers build effective mentoring networks. Primary outcomes include mentor network robustness (i.e. the network is meeting the needs of the trainee), career outcomes and intentions, and research success as measured by grants and publications. Secondary outcomes include psychosocial predictors for research success (e.g. research self-efficacy) and intervention acceptability and fidelity. After five years, we will better understand how the mentorship networks of successful UR postdoctoral researchers form and change over time, their impact on career outcomes, and patterns of UR mentorship networks critical for success. The findings will fill a critical need to understand how best to mentor underrepresented trainees, informing investments in training grants and career development programs that will close the mentoring gap in research training.