Abstract
The biomedical workforce continues to lack diversity, despite growing evidence demonstrating the advantages of diverse teams in workplaces for creativity and innovation. At the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Clinical Research Education, we have taken a multi-pronged, collaborative approach to enhance the diversity of our trainees and scholars. We started by implementing a program for postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty, the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) program. We then built on this program and created a sister program for medical students (CEED II). These two programs were intended to build a local community of diverse researchers. Following the success of these programs, we extended our efforts and pursued federal funding to establish other programs. Our first funded program was designed to teach leadership and career coaching skills to mentors who are committed to mentoring people from diverse backgrounds, the Professional Mentoring Skills Enhancing Diversity (PROMISED) program. We then partnered with minority serving institutions to create a fellowship in translational research skills training, Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientists to Success (LEADS), training in patient-centered outcomes research, Expanding National Capacity in PCOR through Training (ENACT), and a year-long fellowship to work with a specific mentor at Pitt, the Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Fellowship (TL1). With recognition that much work remains to be done, we believe these programs represent a small but positive step toward diversifying the biomedical workforce.
Highlights
A recent Google report describes the underrepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields as “a serious impediment to technological innovation as well as an affront to fundamental notions of fairness and equity” [1] (p. 3)
Education, where we have developed a number of programs that target workforce diversification from multiple angles, including recruitment of URB scholars, training in the informal curriculum, peer support structures to enhance retention, mentor training, cross-institutional networking opportunities, fellowships, and travel grants
To ensure that our approach is guided by the experiences and recommendations of URB scientists, we have developed some of these programs in partnership with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)
Summary
A recent Google report describes the underrepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields as “a serious impediment to technological innovation as well as an affront to fundamental notions of fairness and equity” [1] (p. 3). Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Diversity within the Schools of the Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh [15], include limited access to research resources, a lack of mentoring and career development advice, and the absence of a supportive circle of URB researchers. Our programs address these issues head-on, offering URB scientists the support, mentorship, and resources vital to a successful career. Our efforts have been recognized in several ways, including the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Affirmative Action Award, earned in 2014 for the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) Program [16]. Students meet regularly with their mentor and the program director to set personalized goals
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