Summary
The MyNRMN platform has successfully facilitated over 12,100 unique mentoring connections in the biomedical sciences. There's a significant number of connections involving female mentees (65%) and mentors (58%), as well as Black mentees (38%) and White mentors (56%). This study also analyzed 15,024 connections across 1625 institutions, revealing that mentees predominantly came from R1 universities (25%) and historically Black colleges (14%), while mentors are largely from R1 institutions (31%). These findings highlight the broad reach and demographic diversity of the MyNRMN platform, demonstrating its effectiveness in promoting mentoring connections across institutional and geographic boundaries.
Abstract
Introduction: With an overarching goal of increasing diversity and inclusion in biomedical sciences, the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) developed a web-based national mentoring platform (MyNRMN) that seeks to connect mentors and mentees to support the persistence of underrepresented minorities in the biomedical sciences. As of May 15, 2024, the MyNRMN platform, which provides mentoring, networking, and professional development tools, has facilitated more than 12,100 unique mentoring connections between faculty, students, and researchers in the biomedical domain.
Methods: Through the MyNRMN platform, we observed profile data and analyzed mentoring connections made between students and faculty across institutional boundaries by race, ethnicity, gender, institution type, and educational attainment between July 1, 2016, and May 31, 2021.
Results: In total, there were 15,024 connections with 2222 mentees and 1652 mentors across 1625 institutions contributing data. Female mentees participated in the highest number of connections (3996/6108, 65%), whereas female mentors participated in 58% (5206/8916) of the connections. Black mentees made up 38% (2297/6108) of the connections, whereas White mentors participated in 56% (5036/8916) of the connections. Mentees were predominately from institutions classified as Research 1 (R1; doctoral universities-very high research activity) and historically Black colleges and universities (556/2222, 25% and 307/2222, 14%, respectively), whereas 31% (504/1652) of mentors were from R1 institutions.
Conclusion: To date, the utility of mentoring connections across institutions throughout the United States and how mentors and mentees are connected is unknown. This study examined these connections and the diversity of these connections using an extensive web-based mentoring network.
Citation
Syed, T. A., Thompson, E. L., Vishwanatha, J. K., Saleh, G., Stinson, K., Javier , D., Johnson, J., & Latif, Z. (2024, June 17). Diverse mentoring connections across institutional boundaries in the Biomedical Sciences: Innovative Graph Database Analysis. PubMed. https://bit.ly/3Xs5at5