Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-10-0195
Abstract
Over the past decades, two persisting priorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) training have been: 1) increasing the knowledge of and access to careers beyond academic scientist; and 2) increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce. Previous studies show that a uniquely constructed career coaching group provides strong support and progress for both priorities. This report extends this design into a more sustainable model that is positioned within the professional context of rising young scientists. This new model is based in the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)—the ASPET Mentoring Network. Groups of PhD students and postdocs were assigned to an ASPET professional (academic or other career) member (the coach) with an initial meeting held the day before the society’s annual meeting. The coaching groups interacted during the meeting and then virtually for a year. Extensive survey and interview evaluation data gathered from the first three cohorts (12 coaching groups) in 2016– 2018 provided strong evidence of the perceived and real benefits of the network. This new version of career coaching groups is both feasible and linked to career success due to its close association with a scientific society, peers, and coaches who share scientific identities and aspirations.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
CBE—Life Sciences Education, v. 19, issue 3, art. cbe.19-10-0195
Scholar Commons Citation
Womack, Veronica Y.; Thakore, Bhoomi K.; Wood, Christine V.; Jewett, David C.; Jones, Remi F.; Ingram, Susan L.; Clark, Janet A.; Fry, Catherine L.; Wecker, Lynn; and McGee, Richard, "The ASPET Mentoring Network: Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion through Career Coaching Groups within a Scientific Society" (2020). Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences Faculty Publications. 1.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/pbn_facpub/1
