Gandhi Monica, Johnson Mallory
HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
AIDS Behav. 2016 Sep;20 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):294-303. doi: 10.1007/s10461-016-1364-3.
Given the diversity of those affected by HIV, increasing diversity in the HIV biomedical research workforce is imperative. A growing body of empirical and experimental evidence supports the importance of strong mentorship in the development and success of trainees and early career investigators in academic research settings, especially for mentees of diversity. Often missing from this discussion is the need for robust mentoring training programs to ensure that mentors are trained in best practices on the tools and techniques of mentoring. Recent experimental evidence shows improvement in mentor and mentee perceptions of mentor competency after structured and formalized training on best practices in mentoring. We developed a 2-day "Mentoring the Mentors" workshop at UCSF to train mid-level and senior HIV researchers from around the country [recruited mainly from Centers for AIDS Research (CFARs)] on best practices, tools and techniques of effective mentoring. The workshop content was designed using principles of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and included training specifically geared towards working with early career investigators from underrepresented groups, including sessions on unconscious bias, microaggressions, and diversity supplements. The workshop has been held three times (September 2012, October 2013 and May 2015) with plans for annual training. Mentoring competency was measured using a validated tool before and after each workshop. Mentoring competency skills in six domains of mentoring-specifically effective communication, aligning expectations, assessing understanding, fostering independence, addressing diversity and promoting development-all improved as assessed by a validated measurement tool for participants pre- and -post the "Mentoring the Mentors" training workshops. Qualitative assessments indicated a greater awareness of the micro-insults and unconscious bias experienced by mentees of diversity and a commitment to improve awareness and mitigate these effects via the mentor-mentee relationship. Our "Mentoring the Mentors" workshop for HIV researchers/mentors offers a formal and structured curriculum on best practices, tools and techniques of effective mentoring, and methods to mitigate unconscious bias in the mentoring relationship. We found quantitative and qualitative improvements in mentoring skills as assessed by self-report by participants after each workshop and plan additional programs with longitudinal longer-term assessments focused on objective mentee outcomes (grants, papers, academic retention). Mentoring training can improve mentoring skills and is likely to improve outcomes for optimally-mentored mentees.
鉴于受艾滋病病毒影响人群的多样性,增加艾滋病病毒生物医学研究人员队伍的多样性势在必行。越来越多的实证和实验证据表明,在学术研究环境中,强有力的指导对于学员和早期职业研究人员的发展与成功至关重要,尤其是对于具有多样性的学员而言。在这一讨论中常常被忽视的是,需要有强大的指导培训项目,以确保指导者接受关于指导工具和技巧的最佳实践培训。最近的实验证据表明,在接受关于指导最佳实践的结构化和正规化培训后,指导者和学员对指导者能力的认知有所改善。我们在加州大学旧金山分校举办了为期两天的“指导指导者”研讨会,培训来自全国各地的中级和高级艾滋病病毒研究人员(主要从艾滋病研究中心招募),内容包括有效指导的最佳实践、工具和技巧。研讨会内容是根据社会认知职业理论(SCCT)的原则设计的,包括专门针对与代表性不足群体的早期职业研究人员合作的培训,包括关于无意识偏见、微侵犯和多样性补充的课程。该研讨会已举办过三次(2012年9月、2013年10月和2015年5月),并计划进行年度培训。在每次研讨会前后,使用经过验证的工具对指导能力进行测量。通过针对“指导指导者”培训研讨会参与者的经过验证的测量工具评估,在指导的六个领域中的指导能力技能——特别是有效的沟通、协调期望、评估理解、培养独立性、处理多样性和促进发展——均有所提高。定性评估表明,对具有多样性的学员所经历的微侮辱和无意识偏见有了更高的认识,并承诺通过指导者与学员的关系提高认识并减轻这些影响。我们为艾滋病病毒研究人员/指导者举办的“指导指导者”研讨会提供了关于有效指导的最佳实践、工具和技巧以及减轻指导关系中无意识偏见方法的正式和结构化课程。我们发现,每次研讨会后参与者通过自我报告评估的指导技能在数量和质量上都有所提高,并计划开展更多项目,进行侧重于客观学员成果(资助、论文、学术保留)的长期纵向评估。指导培训可以提高指导技能,并可能改善得到最佳指导的学员的成果。