A Longitudinal Mentoring Approach to Increase Diversity Among Researchers of Neurological Disorders

尽管有许多旨在增加神经科学研究人员多样性的举措，但令人遗憾的事实是，神经科学领域少数民族研究人员的比例和绝对人数都在下降。这一失败在许多层面上都令人不安，但也许最明显的是，更高级的调查人员无法有效地指导初级调查人员。职业科学家多样性的丧失意味着思想多样性的丧失，这反过来又限制了神经科学新思想的产生和科学进步。多种培训方案无法增加多样性并不是对这些方案的控诉，而是说明方案方法的局限性。因此，我们建议采取不同的路线来解决这个问题。我们的计划是基于发表的调查结果，即代表性不足的个人在他们的培训过渡点，即，从研究生院到博士后培养，从博士后到教师，从青年教师到终身教职。从自我报告的数据，一个主要的因素，关于自然减员是个人感到孤立，没有有意义的民族和/或种族的同龄人群体。在这个R25计划中，我们建议采取纵向的指导方法，我们在专业发展的每个阶段建立同伴群体，并利用这些同伴群体在社区内提供互动式指导。我们将从全国各地招募一批来自代表性不足背景的学员，包括研究生，博士后研究员和早期研究人员。我们将为每一批学员提供专业技能和指导方面的纵向培训。通过导师/学员和同行/同行对同行的指导结构，我们将根据学员的进展量身定制专业发展，同时在参与者之间建立支持网络。该计划的一个关键要素将是教导参与者如何成为有效的导师，作为保持计划参与者纵向发展的一种手段。最后，我们将提供高水平的研究核心和实验室，以提高参与者研究的科学影响。参与者将在明尼苏达州举行为期一周的专业培训和指导，每年夏天。对于跨越职业生涯阶段的主题，队列将一起工作。还将有专门的培训课程，具体到学术等级。除了现场夏季培训外，还将举办两次正式培训活动。在秋季，我们的学员和导师将在年度神经科学学会会议上会面，参加专业发展和社交活动。在冬季，在小组完成在线专业发展会议后，将举行在线视频电话会议讨论。总的来说，我们的目标是从根本上改变指导培训，并显着提高劳动力的多样性，在学术追求研究神经系统疾病。

Despite the many initiatives designed to increase diversity among neuroscience researchers, the sad fact is that there has been a decline in the proportion and absolute numbers of minority researchers in the field of neuroscience. This failure is disturbing at a number of levels, but perhaps most notably highlights the inability of more senior investigators to effectively mentor junior investigators in their discipline. The loss of diversity among career scientists means a loss of diversity of thought, which in turn limits the generation of new ideas and scientific progress in the neurosciences. The inability of the multiple training programs to increase diversity is not an indictment of those programs, but rather it illustrates limitations in program approach. As a result, we propose to take a different route to addressing this problem. Our program is based on published findings that underrepresented individuals are lost in the system at transition points in their training, i.e., graduate school to postdoctoral training, postdoctoral training to faculty members, and tenure for young faculty. From self-report data, a principal contributing factor regarding attrition is that individuals feel isolated by not having meaningful ethnic and/or racial peer groups. In this R25 program we propose to take a longitudinal approach to mentoring in which we establish peer groups across each stage of professional development and utilize these peer groups to provide interactive mentoring within a community. We will recruit from across the nation a cohort of trainees from underrepresented backgrounds, consisting of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early stage investigators. For each of these cohorts we will provide longitudinal training in professional skills and mentoring. Through both mentor/mentee and peer-to-peer/peer-to-near peer mentorship structures, we will tailor professional development consistent with the progression of the trainee, while simultaneously creating a network of support amongst its participants. A key element of the program will be to teach the participants in the program how to be effective mentors themselves as a means to maintain the longitudinal development of program participants. Finally, we will provide access to high-level research cores and laboratories to enhance the scientific impact of the participants’ research. Participants will meet in Minnesota for one week each summer for professional training and guidance. For topics that span across career stage, the cohort will work together. There will also be specialized training sessions specific to academic rank. In addition to the on-site summer training, there will be two additional formal training events. In the fall, our trainees and mentors will meet at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting to participate in both professional development and a social event. In the winter, there will be an on-line video teleconference discussion following the group’s completion of an on-line professional development session. Overall, our goal is to fundamentally alter mentored training, and significantly enhance workforce diversity in the academic pursuit of research on neurological disorders.