Female mentors positively contribute to undergraduate STEM research experiences

The positive influence of undergraduate research and mentoring on student success in STEM fields has been well-established. However, the role that the gender of a research mentor may play in the undergraduate research experience warrants further investigation. This is an especially critical issue to address, since the lack of female role models in STEM fields is acknowledged as an impediment to the success and progress of women pursuing STEM-careers. To evaluate how the gender of undergraduate research mentors influences the research experience of students, we collected and analyzed surveys from undergraduates and alumni who had completed undergraduate research at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. We found that even though students did not select mentors based on gender, there were differences in how students perceived their mentors, depending on the gender of their mentors. Interestingly, students with female mentors were more likely than students with male mentors to report that their research experience had prepared them for a career in science. Further, our gender-pairing analyses revealed that students who expressed that the gender of their mentor had contributed to their relationship with their mentor were more likely to have a female mentor. Our data indicate that female mentors favorably influence the undergraduate research experience of both male and female students. Finally, our study reinforces the conclusions of previous studies demonstrating that undergraduate research and mentoring are beneficial for students. Overall, our findings support that, for students to fully benefit from their undergraduate research experience, undergraduate research opportunities for students should include an equitable representation of female mentors.

Neonatal nursing led research activity in the UK: a survey of current practice

Background Neonatal nurses are ideally placed in practice to undertake research enhancing the care of families. More information is required, however, around neonatal nursing led research to advance leadership in this area. The aim of this study was to determine neonatal nursing led research activity within the UK. Methods The study used a web-based survey design and neonatal nurses were eligible if they were working at or towards Masters or Doctoral level qualification in the UK. The survey was distributed to members of the Neonatal Nurses Association, UK Schools of Nursing and shared on social media pages of authors and professional organisations. Results were analysed using descriptive and frequency statistics and content analysis. Results Of the 56 respondents, 14% (n = 8) had a Doctoral level qualification and 43% (n = 24) of participants held a Masters qualification. Lack of time and funding knowledge was the largest barrier to research. Only 30% (n = 3) of participants had a research mentor and only 18% (n = 3) were from a neonatal nursing background. Conclusions There are limited numbers of neonatal nurses undertaking or leading nursing research in the UK. Further support is required to enhance clinical academic career trajectories to ensure research is a viable pathway for future generations of neonatal nurses.

The Importance of Female Mentors and Safety in the Workplace to Female Otolaryngology Applicants When Creating Rank Lists

Objectives: The aim of this research is to understand the importance of female career mentors, research mentors, co-residents, and program directors/chairs to current female otolaryngology residents when applying to residency. The importance of safety in the workplace was also investigated. Methods: Surveys were sent via electronic mail to 119 programs, and program directors were asked to distribute them to female residents. Using the Likert scale, participants ranked the importance of various factors when creating a rank list, in particular, importance of safety in the workplace and importance of female mentors in various leadership positions. Demographic information, geographic location, LGBTQ identification, and fellowship plans were also collected. Results: There were 62 participants nationally. Eighty-seven percent (n = 54) of participants stated that having at least 1 female attending and having female co-residents was “very important” or “important” when ranking programs. A number of respondents replied that having a female career development mentor (38.7% [n = 24] and 43.5% [n = 27]), female program director or chair (4.8% [n = 3] and 16.1% [n = 10]), and female research mentor (12.9% [n = 8] and 29% [n = 18]) was “very important” or “important,” respectively. Ninety-three percent (n = 58) replied that feeling safe in their training environment was “very important” or “important.” Conclusion: Having female mentors as well as safety in the workplace in residency is important to a vast majority of residents and applicants when creating a rank list. Programs with women in these roles may gain a disproportionate number of female residents because they may be more desirable places than those without women in these roles.

Neonatal Nursing Led Research Activity in the UK: A Survey of Current Practice

Background: Neonatal nurses are ideally placed in practice to undertake research enhancing the care of families. More information is required, however, around neonatal nursing led research to advance leadership in this area. The aim of this study was to determine neonatal nursing led research activity within the UK. Methods: The study used a web-based survey design and neonatal nurses were eligible if they were working at or towards Masters or Doctoral level qualification in the UK. The survey was distributed to members of the Neonatal Nurses Association, UK Schools of Nursing and shared on social media pages of authors and professional organisations. Results were analysed using descriptive and frequency statistics and content analysis. Results: Of the 56 respondents, 14% (n=8) had a Doctoral level qualification and 43% (n=24) of participants held a Masters qualification. Lack of time and funding knowledge was the largest barrier to research. Only 30% (n=3) of participants had a research mentor and only 18% (n=3) were from a neonatal nursing background. Conclusions: There are limited numbers of neonatal nurses undertaking or leading nursing research in the UK. Further support is required to enhance clinical academic career trajectories to ensure research is a viable pathway for future generations of neonatal nurses.

Engagement and Mentorship of Undergraduate Students in Aging Research

Education and mentorship of undergraduate students extends beyond the classroom and clinical setting into research. This presentation will discuss the experience of the student and research mentor as well as provide findings from an important qualitative research study. Through a university funded grant, a student nurse partnered with faculty to investigate the needs and experience of caregivers of recently hospitalized older adults with diabetes. Caregivers play a vital role in caring for older adults, often they do not receive the education necessary to achieve optimal health outcomes. Qualitative interviews of 20 caregivers were conducted. The main themes that emerged from the data were: the role itself, challenges, preparation, and additional comorbid diagnoses. These findings provide an understanding of experience, tasks, and needs of caregivers for older adults with diabetes. This research experience provided exposure and education that is essential to developing future aging research scientists.

A Research Partnership to Enhance Postgraduate Pharmacy Residency Training Outcomes

Pharmacy residents must complete research as part of their program; however, challenges exist in providing experiences that result in successful research dissemination outcomes. A university-based research team, integrated into an ambulatory care pharmacy residency program aimed to improve presentation and publication rates of pharmacy resident research projects. Data on the number of postgraduate year-2 (PGY2) residents and their productivity were collected and summarized to assess progress. A total of 13 residents completed their residency over seven years. Each resident produced one regional presentation, and one national presentation beginning in year four. To date, three peer-reviewed papers have been published, with another one in-press. Responses from residents found lack of guidance, lack of data availability for projects and feedback fatigue were barriers to a positive research experience. To address these problems, a university-based research team was integrated to provide research mentor guided support, ensure study feasibility, and provide structured feedback. This program evaluation highlighted the integration of a PGY2 ambulatory care pharmacy residency with a designated, interprofessional university-based research team. Future work is warranted to reduce research-related barriers and formally evaluate resident post-program knowledge, skills, and subsequent dissemination rates.

Perceptions of research training in a hematology/oncology fellowship program.

11030 Background: Current research training in Hematology/Oncology (Heme/Onc) fellowship is typically limited to mentoring relationships, which are highly variable due to the absence of standardized training for mentors and different perceptions of successful mentor-mentee relationships. Formal research productivity assessment is challenging and lacking in our current educational framework. Methods: Electronic surveys were developed to assess research training during fellowship at the University of Wisconsin (UW). Surveys were sent to current Heme/Onc fellows (n = 9), members of fellowship leadership (n = 4), and core research faculty (n = 5) with prior successful mentorship to trainees. Results: Surveys were completed by 6 fellows, 3 fellowship leadership, and 5 core research faculty. Both faculty and trainees recognized the research mentor-mentee relationship to be critical, with 5/6 (83%) fellows and 3/5 (60%) core research faculty identifying research mentors as the most meaningful training source. However, despite 5/6 (83%) fellows having a research mentor identified, there were large variations in the perceived level of proficiency in core research topics. While 3 fellows felt only slightly prepared in basics of clinical trial design, 1 fellow felt very prepared and 2 felt somewhat prepared. Furthermore, 2 fellows each felt very prepared, somewhat prepared, or not at all prepared in assembling grant components. There was also variable confidence reported by core research faculty in the ability of trainees to obtain funding and conduct independent research after fellowship, with 1 extremely confident, 2 somewhat confident, and 2 only a little confident. All individuals surveyed recognized manuscript publication, abstract presentation, and grant acquisition as important measures of research productivity. Beyond that, however, only 1/5 (20%) core research faculty and 0/3 (0%) fellowship leadership noted using rubrics for critical review of trainee academic progress despite 3/6 (50%) fellows believing that such rubrics were being used for their evaluation. Conclusions: The divergent experiences identified among research mentors and mentees and the lack of clearly defined metrics of research productivity highlights the need for a more standardized educational framework and formative evaluation tools. These identified needs have led to a pilot program at UW that intends to create a professional learning community for research mentors, define competencies for research training, and design a research training portfolio and accompanying assessment rubric.

Supporting Ecuadorian teachers in their classroom research: Reflections on becoming a research mentor

Classroom-based research has flourished in the past 15 years, often introduced institutionally, as part of teachers’ Continuous Professional Development. Supporting teachers in their classroom research requires facilitation and scaffolding. Therefore, teacher trainers are often assigned the tasks of research-mentoring. However, this activity requires special skills and sustained mentoring of the mentors themselves. Mentoring, as an activity, has a rich literature, but mentoring teachers, and more specifically, mentoring language teachers researching their classrooms has not been widely documented as yet. The present self-study constitutes a reflective account of an experienced teacher trainer’s journey into mentoring. By simultaneously taking part in an online mentoring course as well as putting the newly gained knowledge into practice, the author was able to mentor 11 English language teachers and 5 English major students that came together to carry out tasks related to mentoring action research projects and / or accomplish their own classroom research as required by the Ecuadorian state university where they teach or study. The self-study draws on the first three months of the year-long program, and presents the process of growing into the mentoring role by using the author’s reflective journal, email exchanges with her lead-mentor, posts on the online EVO Mentoring course and feedback from participants. The author concludes that mentoring teacher-researchers is a two-way activity that benefits both the mentor and the mentee, but the value of mentoring should be acknowledged institutionally, and its practice extended.