Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Dec 19;18(12):e0295577. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295577. eCollection 2023.
Low research output among women researchers in health research has been linked to inadequate mentorship opportunities for early career women researchers and particularly in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) field. Mentorship has been recognized as a contributor to strengthening research capacity and as beneficial for both mentors and mentees. Women researchers oftentimes experience negative impacts of organizational and structural gender inequities related to formal and informal mentoring. In 2020, the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction at WHO launched a mentorship programme for early career SRHR women researchers from low- and middle-income countries. The programme sought to provide professional skill-building, promote and share networking opportunities, and offer support in navigating personal and professional life. We conducted a convergent parallel mixed-methods evaluation of the 2020 pilot programme, which included 26 participants, through an online survey and semi-structured in-depth interviews (IDIs). Data collection occurred between March and May 2022. Nineteen responded to the online survey (12 mentees, 7 mentors) and 11 IDIs (7 mentees, 4 mentors) were completed. Based on a preliminary framework, we used deductive and inductive methods to identify six themes: views on mentorship; reasons for applying and expectations of participation in the programme; preferred aspects of programme implementation; challenges with the programme implementation; perceived lasting benefits of the programme; and recommendations for improvement. All participants found the initial training useful, most discussed work-life prioritization throughout the mentorship relationship, and most planned to continue with the relationship. There appear to be ample benefits to mentorship, especially when planned and implemented in a structured manner. These attributes can be particularly beneficial when they are conceived as a two-way relationship of mutual learning and support, and especially for women at the start of their research careers as they navigate structural gender inequities.
健康研究领域的女性研究人员的研究成果较低,这与早期职业女性研究人员缺乏指导机会有关,尤其是在性健康和生殖健康及权利领域。指导已被确认为增强研究能力的一个因素,对导师和学员都有益。女性研究人员经常受到与正式和非正式指导相关的组织和结构性性别不平等的负面影响。2020 年,开发署/人口基金/儿基会/世卫组织/世界银行人类生殖研究、发展和培训特别方案在世卫组织发起了一项针对来自中低收入国家的性健康和生殖健康及权利领域的早期职业女性研究人员的指导方案。该方案旨在提供专业技能建设、促进和分享网络机会,并在个人和职业生活中提供支持。我们通过在线调查和半结构深入访谈(IDI),对 2020 年试点方案进行了收敛并行混合方法评估,该方案包括 26 名参与者。数据收集于 2022 年 3 月至 5 月进行。19 人回应了在线调查(12 名学员,7 名导师),并完成了 11 次 IDI(7 名学员,4 名导师)。基于初步框架,我们使用演绎和归纳方法确定了六个主题:对指导的看法;申请和参与方案的预期;方案实施的首选方面;方案实施的挑战;方案的持久收益;以及改进建议。所有参与者都认为最初的培训很有用,大多数人在整个指导关系中讨论了工作-生活的优先事项,并计划继续保持这种关系。指导似乎有很多好处,尤其是当以结构化的方式计划和实施时。这些属性对于指导特别有益,特别是当它们被视为一种相互学习和支持的双向关系时,尤其是对于那些刚开始研究生涯的女性,因为她们需要应对结构性性别不平等。