STEM-Coaching and Resources for Entrepreneurial Women (CREW)

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ABSTRACT Knowledge and confidence in entrepreneurship are increasingly important skills possessed by those pursuing careers in the biomedical research workforce. Entrepreneurship has emerged as “the most potent economic force” and can be an avenue to increase the number of research innovations that cross the bridge from bench to bedside. However, gender and underrepresented minority (URM) gaps in entrepreneurship have been documented, with reports of only 3-8% of women-founded firms receiving venture capital and only 1% of companies being founded or co-founded by African Americans. In fact, in the United States, only 11.8% of inventors are women. Through the STEM-Coaching and Resources for Entrepreneurial Women (CREW) Program, our goal is to address the disparity in gender in innovation and entrepreneurial activities and increase the number of women, including URM women, who participate in entrepreneurial activities. One unique aspect of our approach is complementing mentoring with coaching, as coaching has been shown to be four times more effective than training/mentoring alone. Specifically, we will train coaches in behavioral coaching and establish teams of coaches as well as entrepreneurial experts who will serve as mentors. We will enhance entrepreneurial skills through one-on-one and group coaching for women researchers. We will train nascent entrepreneurs in topics germane to innovation and entrepreneurship and establish a climate of innovation. We will also facilitate institutional and systemic change by disseminating our findings via focused communications and interactions among all participants, ultimately establishing an entrepreneurial network. We will leverage the expertise of our Advisory Committee, the commitment and support of our leadership and regional institutions. Our program evaluation will use the RE-AIM framework. We will assess how our program increases the number of women who participate in entrepreneurial activities through multi-method program evaluation including assessments of the program’s ability to reach a diverse population, satisfaction with program offerings, and changes in entrepreneurship outcomes. Evaluations of program activities will be completed using REDCap questionnaires. Validated coaching, entrepreneurial, and satisfaction/experience measures will be utilized. Overall, our approach will increase the number of women who are entrepreneurs and increase the level of entrepreneurship in South Carolina. Because the coaching component takes a holistic approach by encouraging women to craft a vision for their work and life, it provides value that will last beyond their current projects and beyond entrepreneurship activities. We plan to establish a manual with our best practices for implementing similar programs at other institutions, thus exerting an impact on a national level.