Tips on successful mentoring
My undergrad and PhD has equipped me with a range of valuable skills to perform marine research. I have had extensive opportunities to travel for field work and have orally presented at local and international scientific conferences. I have mentored two Latina undergraduates, and one is in medical school. I’ve participated in outreach events led by SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science) and Explore Your Universe (EYU). I have served as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for multiple marine upper division courses. And I have been very fortunate to be a TA for two research educational programs, one is an elected course for marine biology majors at my university, and the other is a pathway program for students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s). In both programs, students were divided up into groups of 3, and performed the scientific method. As a group they came up with their own research question, hypothesized and inferenced the potential results, planned the methods, conducted the experiments, performed the statistical analyses, interpreted the results, formed conclusions and presented their research to a general audience.
I witnessed how both groups approached their research questions, very different. My students in the university course would get deflated when something was already known, or they really wanted to be spoon fed an idea or hypothesis. They were scavenging for their research questions in a textbook or a recent review paper. Most times they latched on to one idea or question or deviated slightly from it. Whereas my diversity students, wow, they got super excited when something was known and even unknown. When it was known, they were like, ¨Yeah, less work for us!¨ Even though they knew X was happening, they were observing Y happening, an unknown, and they got super excited cause the literature had mentioned something different. They started coming up with all kinds of different ideas, and experiments; even other ways to analyze the data. They made figures early to see trends in the field. Whereas for the other group of students in the class, oof, it took pulling teeth to get them to input their data, and most times it felt like I was giving them rescue CPR just to get them excited about their own research.
So why is it that the kids taking the course at the University are more likely to be chosen or get into PhD or Master´s programs than their excited, HBCU counterparts? Maybe they have a booster pack from their upbringing and think it's the next logical step to get a good job. Whereas maybe their excited counterparts are dealing with barriers that may affect their existence. Whether it is denial of access and opportunities or forced into a job (which may hinder productivity to conduct research, publish or apply for grants), or they are obligated to take care of family members or they might be dealing with their own health disparity or disability. And that right there, is the reason why we have Diversity, Equity and Inclusion grants, trainings, workshops, liaisons, committees, so that people who are excited about science get a fighting chance to just do basic science.
I truly believe that science is basic. Basic shit. The point of science is to observe a phenomenon, try to think of why that might happen, maybe find out what other people have done to understand the phenomenon, find any flaw, try to think of an experiment that could answer that curiosity, use some math to support your findings, write it down, share it, then someone else can see what you did to further that curiosity along. Boom that is science, it’s freaking everywhere.
The pipeline shouldn’t leak for students who are faced with disparities. These students have more excitement and forethought about the phenomenon they see and if given the opportunity they will answer it. So, when I heard my university course students asking me for hypotheses, it broke my soul. It made me question why they wanted to be scientists in the first place. Were they even looking at the phenomena, the magic of what makes nature so mysterious and beautiful? Doubt it. So, my focus right now is to leverage all my passion for marine biology and all my privilege to increase exposure and diversity in marine science.
I’ve been blessed with some amazing mentors. I truly believe it is the mentors that have to ability to patch up the leaky pipeline for their mentees. And it’s evident that successful advising and mentoring provides students with the ability to cope with a mosaic of stressors and successfully navigate their students to their goals. Serving as both a mentor and mentee, here are most impactful tips I’ve gained:
Align expectations, make a compact. It’s kinda like a contract, but not really, it identifies who does what and a way to keep one another in check. This could be a list of action items and deliverables from both the mentee and the mentor. It’s a mutual relationship.
Use your place of privilege to open paths for others. Remember that burnout is real, mentoring is hard, and science never sleeps. So, there will be moments where you might be in the trenches with your mentees and that’s okay, just make sure to foster independence.
Engage in effective communication, ask them what barriers they’re facing. Talk to them, ask them how they're doing, check in with them before you start the day. Make sure to humanize yourself. Share some funny and embarrassing stories. People may be intimidated or shy, so it’s good to break down those barriers.
Assess their understanding of the research that is being done and why it’s being conducted. If they don’t understand, always try to meet them where they are at.
Promote their professional development, things that open paths to their careers. Show up to their posters and presentations, go over their slides, go over their practice talks, make them first author on publications. Figure out a way to engage with them and include them outside of academia and introduce them to your colleagues.
Cultivate ethical behavior. Identify roles before conducting the experiment, have a code of conduct, report findings properly in a shared location. Make sure you formalize how you want to have difficult conversations, e.g., via face to face or text message or email and set boundaries.
Equity and inclusion. Make all the research you do inclusive. If you can, ALWAYS incorporate a mentee from an underrepresented background. Guide them in field observations, conduct field work alongside, perform analyses together, and guide them in formulating further hypotheses. Edit their research drafts for publication, give them ownership, tell them they’re smart and that they do belong science. Provide them with basic support for research supplies, and travel funds. It is extremely important that your mentees feel seen, heard, validated and included.