DPC Newsletter
Celebrating Mentorship in the DPC
Volume 8, Issue 1
Research Digest
NRMN contributes to special issue on mentoring
The National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) U01 Research Project based at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center contributed seven articles to the The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching “Special Issue 15: 2022 Mentoring Institute Conference.” This research team, led by Akshay Sood, MD, MPH, looks at mentoring training approaches and inter-institutional mentoring support networks.
Read the articles below.
- A Qualitative Review of Comments by Faculty Who Cite Work-Life Balance as a Reason to Leave. Y Magdaleno, H Rishel Brakey, N Greenberg, O Myers, & A Sood. The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching, 6(Special Issue 15): 587–593. December 2022.
- Attitudes of Newly Hired Medicine Faculty Regarding Mentorship and Developmental Networks. V Sood, W Wiggins, A Rodriguez, & D Sigl. The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching, 6(Special Issue 15): 624–629. December 2022.
- Barriers and Challenges for Career Milestones Among Faculty Mentees. B Soller, J Martinez, H Rishel Brakey, N Dominguez, B Tigges, & A Sood. The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, 6(Special Issue 15): 830–837. December 2022.
- Development and Content Validity Testing of the Mentor Behavioral Interaction Rubric. B Tigges, A Sood, N Mickel, N Dominguez, & D Helitzer. The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching, 6(Special Issue 15): 630–636. December 2022.
- Mentoring Award: Importance, Availability and Association With Mentoring Outcomes. L Sood, O Myers, & B Tigges. The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching, 6(Special Issue 15): 616–623. December 2022.
- Organizations’ Mentoring Culture is Associated With Mentoring Climate and Involvement. O Myers, A Sood, N Dominguez, D Helitzer, & B Tigges. The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching, 6(Special Issue 15): 598–603. December 2022.
- The Pandemic Effect on Faculty Attrition at a School of Medicine. The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching. N Greenberg, O Myers, Y Magdaleno, & A Sood. The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching, 6(Special Issue 15): 604–609. December 2022.
New CEC data briefs look at COVID-19 pandemic effects
The Coordination and Evaluation Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) published two new data briefs that explore some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and faculty.
The first data brief highlights how COVID-19 impacted faculty research productivity, creativity and motivation. The second data brief describes how students’ research activities were affected during the pandemic. It also looks at how the pandemic impacted their access to mentors.
Read the summaries and access the full articles below:
Summary: In the Spring of 2021, the Enhance Diversity Study (EDS) invited professors, lecturers, and instructors from the DPC BUILD institutions to participate in the 2021 Faculty Annual Follow-up Survey (FAFS). Eight items were added to the FAFS 2021 to allow respondents to describe how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their personal and professional life. This brief highlights responses from two of these items that focus on research productivity, creativity and motivation. These items provide insight on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on important DPC hallmarks. Over half the faculty respondents reported that their research productivity suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a majority of respondents (70%) reported that their research creativity or motivation decreased. Notably, women, junior, and mid-level faculty reported the most negative impacts. Future research will include follow up data points from the 2022 FAFS to further understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the research activities of EDS participants. Download the full article.
Summary: The trajectory for undergraduate students to becoming a STEM researcher is complex with many transition points and events that can alter the path (McCreath et al, 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions in every aspect of life worldwide. This brief describes self-reported effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on research activities among participants in the Enhance Diversity Study (EDS) during the 2021 EDS Survey administration. Analyses presented in this brief show that the pandemic adversely affected respondents’ ability to conduct research (STU-11). The analysis further documented that the pandemic also impacted respondents’ access to mentors (STU-10) with over half of respondents experiencing a significant decrease in access to mentors since the start of the pandemic. While these data represent a snapshot of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on research experiences and access to mentors, it suggests more research is needed to understand the differences in the long-term effects on the career trajectories and mentoring activities of EDS participants. Future studies can examine how experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic alter the trajectory of the following student-centered DPC hallmarks: Intent to pursue a career in biomedical research (STU-7); Persistence in biomedical degree or other formal research training program (STU-9); Frequent receipt of mentoring to enhance success in the biomedical pathway (STU-10); and Participation in mentored or supervised biomedical research (STU-11). Download the full article.
To read other CEC data briefs, technical reports and other publications, visit the DPC’s new Resource Center. This webpage includes a search tool that allows visitors to look for publications by author, journal, DPC hallmark and more. Visitors can also type a specific keyword into the search field. Additionally, news stories, events and announcements can be found at the Resource Center.
Contact Cynthia Joseph at cjjoseph@mednet.ucla.edu with any questions or suggestions about the page.
New CEC data briefs explore stress related to racial injustice
The Coordination and Evaluation Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) published two new data briefs that explore student and faculty stress levels in relation to increased attention to racial injustices in the United States in 2020.
The first brief looks at how heightened attention to racial injustices affected faculty who participated in the survey, and the second looks at students’ varying levels of stress during this same time period.
Read the summaries and access the full articles below:
Summary: The changing educational landscape and the rise in multifarious and nontraditional student populations invite campuses to adjust their programs and services to effectively meet student demands and compete with other campuses for top talent. Ensuring students have access to a diverse learning environment, one that includes a diversified pool of faculty is critical to meeting students’ needs. Campuses that can adequately support faculty, ease or alleviate stress, and improve faculty retention fully understand faculty efforts to provide a diverse learning environment and the situational stress their faculty experience. This brief describes the self-reported impacts of heightened attention to racial injustices on faculty levels of stress, engagement in social protests, and modifications to classroom content in the Enhanced Diversity Study (EDS), during the 2021 Faculty Annual Follow-up Survey (FAFS) administration. Analyses presented in this brief highlight significant differences between men and women in reported stress, demonstration/ protest participation, and modifications to classroom content. Faculty varied significantly by racial/ethnic identity in their self-reported stress levels. By contrast, results suggest no significant difference in demonstration/ protest participation or modifications to classroom content when comparing respondents by race/ethnic identity, BUILD program participation, current faculty position, or institutional type. Download the full article.
Summary: Students are plagued with a barrage of stressors that can impact their academic outcomes including but not limited to campus environment, expectations, level of resources and academic stress. These stressors are compounded by racial tensions and ineffective race relations, similar to that seen in 2020 when the country was reawakened to racial injustices following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others. This brief describes the self-reported impacts of heightened racial injustices on students’ level of stress and engagement in related protests and demonstrations in the Enhance Diversity Study (EDS) during the 2021 EDS Survey administration, shedding light on the context for BUILD programs and effects. Analyses presented in this brief highlight the high levels of stress respondents experienced as a result of racial injustice, with BUILD-involved respondents reporting significantly higher levels of stress. Analyses further showed that designated racial subgroups experienced higher levels of stress compared to their white counterparts, and women experienced higher levels of stress compared to men. Findings highlight the need for further study to understand the extent to which respondents’ levels of stress are related to their level of participation in social protests and demonstrations and ultimately whether protests contributed to or mitigated respondent stress levels. Download the full article.
To read other CEC data briefs, technical reports and other publications, visit the DPC’s new Resource Center. This webpage includes a search tool that allows visitors to look for publications by author, journal, DPC hallmark and more. Visitors can also type a specific keyword into the search field. Additionally, news stories, events and announcements can be found at the Resource Center.
Contact Cynthia Joseph at cjjoseph@mednet.ucla.edu with any questions or suggestions about the page.
CSULB BUILD alum is a published co-author
Victor Abarca, a California State University, Long Beach BUILD alum, is a published co-author in the General and Comparative Endocrinology journal. He, along with two additional undergraduates, co-authored the paper. The students worked on this research and publication under the direction of their BUILD Mentor, Kelly Young, PhD.
Read the study titled, “Photoperiod alters testicular methyltransferase complex mRNA expression in Siberian hamsters.”
CSULB BUILD alumni are published in journal
California State University, Long Beach BUILD alumni India Rockett and Afriyah Hailey are co-authors on a published study in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Rockett and Hailey both contributed to the study under guidance from their BUILD Research Mentor, Roudi N. Roy, PhD.
Read the study titled, “The Experiences of Hispanic and African American Student-Fathers on College Campuses.”
NRMN featured in new NASEM report
The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine released a report that shares recommendations on promoting diversity in the STEMM fields. The report addresses the importance of diversity in mentoring relationships and offers the National Research Mentoring Network as an example of an organization that teaches faculty members skills to strengthen these relationships.
Download the full report titled “Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations” on the NASEM website.
The Diversity Program Consortium Coordination and Evaluation Center at UCLA is supported by Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health / National Institutes of General Medical Sciences under award number U54GM119024.
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