Are researchers in academic medicine flourishing? A survey of midcareer Ph.D. and physician investigators

Group peer mentoring is effective for different demographic groups of biomedical research faculty: A controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Improved mentoring of midcareer researchers in medical schools has been identified as an important potential avenue for addressing low vitality and high burnout rates in faculty, and the scarcity of both underrepresented minority (URM) faculty and women in biomedical research. To address the need for widescale effective mentoring, we sought to determine whether a group peer mentoring intervention (C-Change Mentoring and Leadership Institute) for early midcareer research faculty was effective for different demographic groups in a controlled trial.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Thirty-five diverse early midcareer faculty and 70 propensity-matched (PM) control subjects matched to intervention subjects on a) study inclusion criteria; b) gender, race, and ethnicity, degree, rank, years of experience, publications, grants; and c) pretest survey outcome variables, participated in the intervention. The C-Change Participant Survey assessed vitality, self-efficacy in career advancement, research success, mentoring others, valuing diversity, cognitive empathy, and anti-sexism/anti-racism skills at pretest and intervention completion. Analysis using multiple regression models included outcome pretest values and indicator variables for intervention, gender, URM status, and MD vs. PhD. Hypotheses regarding differential effectiveness of the intervention by demographic group were tested by including cross-product terms between the demographic indicator variables and the intervention indicator. Missing data were addressed using chained equations to create 100 data sets.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The intervention participants had significantly higher (favorable) scores than PM controls for: self-assessed change in vitality; self-efficacy for career advancement, research, and mentoring others; cognitive empathy; and anti-sexism/racism skills. The benefits of the intervention were nearly identical across: gender, URM vs non-URM faculty, and degree MD/PhD, except vitality significantly increased for non-URM subjects, and not for URM faculty. Self-assessed change in vitality increased for URM and non-URM.

CONCLUSION

The intervention worked successfully for enhancing vitality, self-efficacy and cross-cultural engagement across different demographic groups of biomedical research faculty.

Trends Among Women in Academic Medicine Faculty Ranks

Introduction: Similar proportions of women and men have entered medical school since 2003. However, career advancement and promotion for women continues to be fraught with disparities and inequalities. Building on current literature, this study explores the rates of change of female faculty in faculty ranks over the last 10 years to gain a more comprehensive view of the faculty trends of women in academic medicine. Methods: Using the Faculty Administrative Management Online User System database, counts by gender and faculty rank at each Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) academic medical school were obtained. Statistical analysis was done using generalized estimating equations modeling to assess rates of change for each gender from 2012 to 2021. Results: Higher proportions of female faculty are concentrated at the Instructor and Assistant Professor level and lower proportions at the Associate Professor and Professor rank compared to male faculty. Over the study period, female faculty showed increased rate change compared to male faculty of 1.007 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.002-1.012) for Associate Professor rank and 1.012 (95% CI: 1.007-1.016) for Professor rank. At the Instructor and Assistant Professor levels, female faculty decreased at a relative rate of 0.980 (95% CI: 0.969-0.990) and 0.995 (95% CI: 0.992-0.997) each year, respectively. Conclusion: Female faculty continue to be concentrated at the junior faculty rank. Rate changes at the senior faculty rank for female faculty have slightly improved over the last 10 years compared to male faculty. However, this improvement is minimal, and work is still needed to achieve true gender equity in academic medicine.

Randomized controlled trial of a group peer mentoring model for U.S. academic medicine research faculty

Introduction

Midcareer is a critical transition point for biomedical research faculty and a common dropout point from an NIH-funded career. We report a study to assess the efficacy of a group peer mentoring program for diverse biomedical researchers in academic medicine, seeking to improve vitality, career advancement, and cross-cultural competence.

Methods

We conducted a stratified randomized controlled trial with a waitlist control group involving 40 purposefully diverse early midcareer research faculty from 16 states who had a first-time NIH R01 (or equivalent) award, a K training grant, or a similar major grant. The yearlong intervention (2 to 3 days quarterly) consisted of facilitated, structured, group peer mentoring. Main study aims were to enhance faculty vitality, self-efficacy in achieving research success, career advancement, mentoring others, and cultural awareness and appreciation of diversity in the workplace.

Results

Compared to the control group, the intervention group's increased vitality did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.20), but perceived change in vitality was 1.47 standard deviations higher (D = 1.47, P = 0.03). Self-efficacy for career advancement was higher in the intervention group (D = 0.41, P = 0.05) as was self-efficacy for research (D = 0.57, P = 0.02). The intervention group also valued diversity higher (D = 0.46, P = 0.02), had higher cognitive empathy (D = 0.85, P = 0.03), higher anti-sexism/racism skills (D = 0.71, P = 0.01), and higher self-efficacy in mentoring others (D = 1.14, P = 0.007).

Conclusions

The mentoring intervention resulted in meaningful change in important dimensions and skills among a national sample of diverse early midcareer biomedical faculty. This mentoring program holds promise for addressing the urgencies of sustaining faculty vitality and cross-cultural competence.