MORE Workshop

Understanding Interventions that Encourage Minorities to Pursue Research Careers: Major Questions and Appropriate Methods

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Many existing programs for encouraging underrepresented minorities to pursue scientific careers have emphasized student participation in state-of-the-art research under the mentorship of experienced scientists. These programs operate under the assumption that actively engaging students in research and related professional activities stimulates the students to enter relevant research careers, but there has been little formal evaluation of the short- and long-term effects of the programs and the relative efficacy of the various program elements.

NIH has made two sets of awards under its request for applications (RFA) on the "Efficacy of Interventions to Promote Research Careers" (RFA-GM-05-009) and has recently received applications for a third round of awards (RFA-GM-07-005). This RFA was established to "support research that will test assumptions regarding the effectiveness of interventions that are intended to increase interest, motivation and preparedness for careers in biomedical research, with a particular interest in those interventions specifically designed to increase the number of underrepresented minority students entering careers in biomedical and behavioral research."

The workshop is designed to examine the current state of research related to interventions that influence the participation of underrepresented minorities in biomedical and behavioral sciences and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines; seek to develop research questions that reflect contributions of various factors influencing outcomes; offer technical assistance on implementing effective methodologies for studying interventions that impact the participation of underrepresented minorities in the biomedical and behavioral sciences; and encourage an interdisciplinary community of scholars where outlets (e.g., journals, conferences, sponsored programs) for scholarly work and discourse are identified relevant to this area of study.

The workshop will also provide technical assistance for those interested in conducting this type of research by assisting researchers with experimental design (e.g., identification of appropriate comparison/control groups), design of the statistical analyses (e.g., appropriate methodologies, statistical power, survival and other type analyses), appreciation of the unique issues inherent in the particular programs to be involved in the study, and inadequate reference to, and incorporation of, existing relevant theories.

Beyond the intervention programs themselves, the workshop also will consider a number of interconnected issues including recruitment, short and long-term retention of students, choice of careers, professional development for scientific mentors, and institutional management of programs. The purpose of the workshop is to examine the current knowledge base, develop research questions that reflect the contribution of various factors, and provide technical assistance on implementing methodologies for studying these research questions. While it will not be possible to fully explore all of these issues during a 1.5-day workshop, raising these questions and issues will assist the participants in giving these topics more consideration at their own institutions and in their own research. In addition, it is hoped that the workshop will encourage the establishment of an interdisciplinary scholarly community to pursue work in this area.