An Adaptation and Evaluation of an Entrepreneurial Research Training Model in Hawaii: The HUI SRC

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Project Summary/Abstract Given global competitiveness in the workforce, there is an urgent need to recruit and train faculty from diverse cultural backgrounds to mentor and train diverse students as future scientists in the biomedical and health sciences fields. Unfortunately, in the U.S., only 10% of the faculty research positions are occupied by African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs) collectively. This indicates a major leak in the faculty mentors pipeline, particularly from underrepresented communities such as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI). From the most successful businesses to institutions of higher education, mentorship is at the core of diverse talent development and retention in a competitive market, indeed, a fundamental component of the workplace culture and a smart investment (Wallack, 2019). Mentorship is a mechanism through which a viable diverse and representative workforce can be created and cultivated. Through mentorship, lifelong learning can be advanced, faculty talents can be leveraged, and systems can be positively changed. Outstanding and effective mentoring must be institutionalized and requires the investment of sufficient time and resources. Unfortunately, many faculty enter the academy without any formal mentorship training or guarantees that such training opportunities will be available and accessible. But, for the most part, faculty enter academia with a strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, with the goal of preparing diverse professionals and leaders for the workforce. Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU) proposes the HPU Faculty Mentorship Training Program to enhance faculty’s ability to effectively mentor students, particularly students from underrepresented communities, in their independent research, progression towards graduation, preparation for graduate school, and connection to career opportunities. Furthermore, the proposed program will develop student-engaged faculty research and the technical and relational skills required by faculty to effectively mentor undergraduate students in the HUI SRC and at HPU. The overarching goal of this program is to examine the short and long-term impacts of the HPU Faculty Mentorship Training Program on increase in student-engaged faculty research and the faculty members’ technical and relational mentorship skills. The evaluation plan will examine the overall achievements toward increasing the pool of faculty mentors who will engage in mentoring diverse students toward success in research, graduate school matriculation, and career entrance.