Strategic Recommendations to Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Principles in the Pediatric Scientific Workforce
Domain: Support and Allyship
Focus: Faculty Mentoring
Author: Samudragupta Bora, PhD
Editor: Jamie L. Lohr, MD
On behalf of the Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Society for Pediatric Research
Background:
There is increasing recognition of the critical value of faculty mentoring in academic pediatrics. Lack of mentoring is a major determinant of low research productivity and hindered career progression of research faculty in academic medicine. Moreover, mentors may act as buffers, with their role extending beyond the promotion of career advancement opportunities, to supporting the mentee to effectively cope with negative consequences of professional stress, burnout, discrimination, and bullying. While there are certain universal aspects of mentoring applicable to all research faculty in pediatrics, it is consistently acknowledged that faculty members belonging to groups underrepresented in medicine have additional unique needs. National organizations have developed and implemented several successful formal and/or structured mentoring programs, complemented by institutional strategic initiatives. Further, targeted mentoring programs have been launched for women faculty and those belonging to groups underrepresented in medicine (regardless of their gender). Despite extensive efforts, there is a consensus that limited mentorship opportunities exist for the pediatric scientific workforce (primarily based at U.S. academic medical centers), amplified by structural racism, implicit bias, inequity, and lack of diversity and inclusion. Further, most mentoring programs are targeted at junior faculty or senior leadership, with unique needs of mid-career faculty largely remaining unaddressed.
What Can National Organizations Do?
- Advocate for the value of faculty mentorship across all career stages, specific to the pediatric scientific workforce and relevant for various investigator roles corresponding to the range of T0 to T4 research, highlighting the core professional values of promoting transparency, fairness, and equity.
- Raise awareness to guide institutional leadership 1) conduct faculty mentoring needs and mentoring competency assessments, 2) strategically align mentoring initiatives with institutional mission and fiscal responsibilities, and 3) develop innovative, culturally informed mentoring programs to serve the needs of diverse faculty members.
- Develop guidelines to support institutional leadership to appropriately account for faculty mentoring activities in academic promotion, research effort allocation, and salary compensation. Standardization of mentoring metrics is critical for benchmarking.
- Organize training for institutional leadership to develop and/or adapt best practices suitable to individual contexts.
- Create diverse faculty mentoring resources and toolkits, specific to the pediatric scientific workforce, to recognize different mentoring models (e.g., formal, informal, dyadic, group, peer, speed, mosaic, remote, etc.) and processes (confidentiality, communication, etc.).
- Develop strategic mentoring initiatives like the Academic Pediatric Association Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID), the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists, and the Executive leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) to promote increased opportunities for access to resources, networking, and support for faculty belonging to groups underrepresented in medicine.
- Promote mentorship opportunities by strategic allocation of faculty mentor salary support in training grants, administrative support for mentoring program development and implementation, and diversity supplements.
- Provide incentives to recognize institutions promoting exemplar efforts and demonstrating a sincere commitment to promoting transparent, fair, and equitable faculty mentoring opportunities.
- Collect adequate high-quality data and monitor trends concerning institutional faculty mentoring initiatives to determine outcomes across key metrics, such as research productivity (rates of successful career awards, K to R conversion, publication record), faculty attrition, and faculty wellbeing.
- Maintain a repository of evidence-based best practices including successful and unsuccessful mentoring programs/initiatives/practices in academic medicine pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce.
What Can Institutions Do?
- Develop section/division/department-specific guidelines describing standard practices, responsibilities, and realistic expectations of individual faculty mentoring across different academic career stages, pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce.
- Organize training for leadership and individual faculty for a better understanding of best practices in faculty mentoring, pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce.
- Conduct yearly faculty mentoring needs assessment to understand the institutional climate, with a targeted focus on different academic career stages, research faculty, and those belonging to groups underrepresented in medicine.
- Administer yearly faculty mentoring competency assessment, followed by training opportunities for mentors to address perceived limitations and optimize mentoring skills.
- Sponsor faculty to participate in national mentorship programs (as both mentee and mentor), focusing on strategic alignment with long-term goals and unique individual needs/competencies.
- Recognize faculty mentoring (related to pediatric scientific mission and workforce) at the local/regional/national/international level appropriately towards academic promotion, research effort allocation, and salary compensation.
- Create online and in-person forums for faculty members to regularly share their knowledge and personal experiences concerning mentoring, pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce.
- Recognize biases in faculty mentoring opportunities through intensive long-term education and intermittent refreshers, followed by adequate response plans to account for identified and potential obstacles to implementation.
- Implement an anonymous reporting system for observed bias and racism in faculty mentoring.
- Allocate strategic investment in resources for mentoring faculty with special circumstances.
- Collect adequate high-quality data and monitor trends concerning institutional faculty mentoring initiatives to determine outcomes across key metrics, such as research productivity (rates of successful career awards, K to R conversion, publication record), faculty attrition, and faculty wellbeing.
- Prioritize innovation in mentoring program development and implementation to ensure sustainability.
- Share institutional best practices including successful and unsuccessful mentoring programs/initiatives/practices pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce.
What Can Allies Do?
- Aspire to be an exceptional faculty mentor role model.
- Advocate for transparent, fair, and equitable faculty mentoring opportunities corresponding to the range of T0 to T4 research, pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce along with a targeted focus on junior faculty, women faculty, and those belonging to groups underrepresented in medicine (regardless of their career stage and gender).
- Support individual faculty to routinely reassess their formal and informal mentorship portfolio, along with the strategic alignment with long-term goals.
- Establish strategies to ensure faculty across different academic career stages are well-informed of standard practices, responsibilities, and institutional expectations of faculty mentoring, pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce.
- Utilize corporate knowledge of established faculty regarding institutional systems/processes/culture to strategically advocate for more junior colleagues for a transparent, fair, and equitable faculty mentoring, pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce along with a targeted focus on women faculty and those belonging to groups underrepresented in medicine (regardless of their career stage and gender).
- Create opportunities for multilevel faculty mentoring through coaching and sponsorship.
- Appreciate the value of informal mentoring and actively engage in informal mentoring activities.
- Recognize changing mentoring needs associated with generational diversity.
- Promote innovation in mentoring program development and implementation.
What Can Individual Faculty Members Do?
- Recognize characteristics of a successful faculty mentor, faculty mentee, and the mentor-mentee relationship.
- Actively negotiate with section/division/department leadership to seek transparent, fair, and equitable formal faculty mentoring, including the development of an individualized mentoring plan specific to the pediatric scientific workforce and relevant for various investigator roles corresponding to the range of T0 to T4 research.
- Initiate yearly meetings with section/division/department leadership (in consultation with research leadership) to assess the current formal mentoring portfolio, pertaining specifically to the pediatric scientific workforce.
- Facilitate a strong mentoring relationship by establishing realistic expectations of the mentor-mentee relationship, processes, commitment, and mutual recognition of individual strengths and limitations.
- Establish an informal mentoring committee with diverse expertise, including senior and peer mentors within and outside the pediatric scientific workforce, to comprehensively guide the individual faculty across various aspects of academic research career as well as outside of research pursuits to optimize their career potential.
- Reassess mentoring needs yearly, focusing on strategic alignment with long-term goals and unique individual needs.
- Proactive anonymous reporting of observed bias and racism in faculty mentoring and sponsorship.
Link to Comprehensive References on Mentorship