Mauldin Rebecca L, Greenfield Jennifer C, Kusmaul Nancy, Fields Noelle L, Wladkowski Stephanie P, Gibson Allison
School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA.
Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA.
J Gerontol Soc Work. 2019 Nov-Dec;62(8):873-888. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2019.1686673. Epub 2019 Oct 30.
Professional networks are important for the success of doctoral students and early career faculty members, yet there is little research about what types of experiences help emerging scholars develop these networks. Social network analysis may be an ideal method for studying the effectiveness of training programs in nurturing network development among emerging scholars. We describe one application of this method, which was used to examine the professional networks formed through participation in the Association of Gerontological Education in Social Work (AGESW)'s Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Program (PDFP). Alumni ( = 12) from the first three cohorts of the program (2010-2012) reported meeting an average of 20 scholars ( = 13.2) through AGESW, which led to potential professional interactions and collaborations on conference presentations and manuscripts. Although challenges with missing data limited the conclusions that can be drawn, we find that this method holds promise for helping to identify key factors that facilitate professional network development in pre-dissertation training programs such as the PDFP.
专业网络对于博士生和早期职业教员的成功至关重要，但对于何种类型的经历有助于初出茅庐的学者建立这些网络，相关研究却很少。社会网络分析可能是研究培训项目在培养初出茅庐的学者网络发展方面有效性的理想方法。我们描述了这种方法的一种应用，该方法用于研究通过参与老年社会工作教育协会（AGESW）的博士前奖学金计划（PDFP）所形成的专业网络。该计划前三批学员（2010 - 2012年）中的12位校友报告称，通过AGESW平均结识了20位学者（标准差 = 13.2），这促成了在会议报告和论文撰写方面潜在的专业互动与合作。尽管数据缺失带来的挑战限制了能够得出的结论，但我们发现这种方法有望帮助识别促进诸如PDFP这类博士前培训项目中专业网络发展的关键因素。
