ASBMB Interactive Mentoring Activities for Grantsmanship Enhancement (IMAGE 2.0)

虽然美国国家科学基金会（NSF）的数据显示，在过去的三十年里，科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域中代表性不足的少数民族（URM）的数量翻了一番，但这些领域的非洲裔美国人，西班牙裔美国人和美洲原住民的数量仍然远远低于他们在美国人口中的代表性。2018年，只有约12%的STEM领域的博士学位被授予URM，尽管他们占美国人口的约30%。同样，在过去的20年里，URM化学或生物学教授的数量一直徘徊在4%左右，尽管有无数旨在使STEM劳动力多样化的计划。这些数据强调了对针对STEM管道中多个点的额外和新颖策略的需求。作为一种干预措施，以影响URM教授在STEM中的持久性，美国生物化学与分子生物学学会（ASBMB）少数民族事务委员会（MAC）为早期职业教师和博士后研究员组织了一次年度研讨会，提供关于拨款写作和职业和专业发展的密集指导。自2013年以来每年举办的研讨会受到参与者和参与导师的好评，评估指标表明，参与者获得联邦资助的可能性是没有参加该计划的密切匹配的比较组受试者的两倍。一个增强的五年互动辅导活动，以增强（图像）计划-称为图像2.0 -将服务于总共120-150名参与者。图2.0还首次包括为来自代表性不足的族裔群体的职业中期教师开展的活动，特别是那些在维持联邦资金方面遇到持续障碍的教师。此外，该计划将通过跟踪以前的参与者，通过任期和他们的职业生涯中期，对IMAGE的影响进行纵向分析。这一跟踪将为IMAGE在获得和维持资金以及获得使用权方面的影响提供信息。虽然研讨会将是IMAGE 2.0的核心，但参与者将通过赠款撰写人社区获得为期一年的指导。这些社区将由参与者和赠款撰写导师或参与者和赠款撰写教练组成，并将每月举行一次虚拟会议。赠款写作导师将内容胜任，并将提供有关提案发展的定期反馈。赠款写作教练将接受文化敏感的职业指导培训，并将激励参与者，帮助他们发展和保持强烈的科学身份，并指导他们做出重大的职业决定。这些努力将创造一种归属感和责任感，鼓励参与者通过最终提交继续推进他们的提案，并促进他们在各自领域的坚持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

While data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have demonstrated a doubling in the number of underrepresented minorities (URM) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields over the past three decades, the numbers of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans in these fields remain woefully below their representation in the US population. In 2018, only ~12% of doctoral degrees in STEM fields were conferred to URM, although they constitute ~30% of the US population. Similarly, over the past 20-years, the number of URM professors in chemistry or biology has hovered around 4%, despite myriad programs aimed at diversifying the STEM workforce. These data highlight the need for additional and novel strategies that target multiple points in the STEM pipeline. As one intervention to impact on the persistence of URM professors within the STEM, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) has organized an annual workshop for early-career faculty and postdoctoral fellows that provides intensive mentoring on grant writing and career and professional development. The workshops, conducted yearly since 2013, have been well received among participants and participating mentors, and assessment metrics indicate that participants are two-fold more likely to obtain federal funding than closely matched comparison-group subjects who do not participate in the program.Strengthened by the experience gained over the past almost 10 years, an enhanced five-year Interactive Mentoring Activities for Grantsmanship Enhancement (IMAGE) Program – called IMAGE 2.0 – will serve a total of 120-150 participants. IMAGE 2.0 also includes, for the first time, activities for mid-career faculty from underrepresented ethnic groups, especially those who have encountered a persistent roadblock in their ability to maintain federal funding. Moreover, the program will conduct a longitudinal analysis of the effect of IMAGE by tracking previous participants through tenure and into their mid-careers. This tracking will inform on the impact of IMAGE in obtaining and sustaining funding and in acquiring tenure. Although the workshop will be the core of IMAGE 2.0, participants will be provided with year-long mentoring through communities of grant-writers. These communities will consist of participants and grant-writing mentors or participants and grant-writing coaches, and will convene virtually on a monthly basis. Grant-writing mentors will be content-competent and will provide periodic feedback on proposal development. Grant-writing coaches will be trained in culturally sensitive career coaching, and will motivate participants, help them develop and maintain a strong science identity, and coach them as they make major career decisions. These efforts will create a sense of belonging and accountability that will encourage participants to continue forward with their proposals through ultimate submission and also facilitate their persistence in their fields.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.