Mentoring minority trainees

Abstract

A toolkit for mentoring minority students and trainees in science.

The art of mentorship was first described in Homer's Odyssey as the character mentor, who imparted wisdom and shared his knowledge with his less‐skilled contemporaries. In research, dedicated and personalized mentoring helps young scientists to successfully advance through the career pipeline. Great mentors yield great leaders, but mentorship should be tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual mentee. Minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are particularly susceptible to the harsh scientific landscape; we therefore believe it is necessary to acknowledge specific considerations for mentors training minority students. This article provides some background and advice for mentors to positively influence the trajectory of their trainees from all backgrounds and specific consideration for minority trainees.

Great mentors yield great leaders; but, mentorship should be tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual mentee.

Mentoring

Mentors are responsible for promoting the scientific development of the next generation of scientists, leaders, and educators. However, in order to generate a beneficial mentor–mentee relationship, mentors must pay careful attention to minorities and adapt their mentoring style accordingly. Groups that are different in race, religion, creed, ability, class, gender, and sexual orientation and that have less power compared to other members of society are defined as minoritized. We believe that acknowledging and embracing the minority status of a mentee create a more authentic and productive relationship that extends beyond simply educating. Mentors should be willing to learn about the mentee's background and accordingly adapt their mentorship.

Trust and active listening form the essence of effective communication between mentor and mentee. Trust is built when an individual believes in the veracity of another individual's words and their reliability. Given the history of global disparities that exist, minority trainees may not initially feel safe or optimistic when they meet with a mentor who represents authority. Mentors should therefore understand how cultural differences and biases can impact communication with trainees. Furthermore, mentors must be mindful of their tone and verbiage during in‐person and electronic interactions with trainees.

Words, and in particularly the delivery of a message, can significantly bolster or discourage trainees. Hence, mentors should be aware of different multicultural norms and values so as to support productive interactions with their mentees without miscommunication. While we put forth generalized mentoring considerations, mentoring should be individualized to each mentee as no two mentees are the same. Some students may need direction, encouragement, and support while others may need more independence. Communication at the beginning of the training relationship is therefore crucial to identify the mentee's individual needs and aspirations.

… acknowledging and embracing the minority status of a mentee creates a more authentic and productive relationship that extends beyond simply educating.

Imposter syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a phenomenon that has been studied for more than three decades, but it has recently gained increasing attention. Psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes coined the term in 1978, to describe the feeling as an “internal experience of intellectual phoniness in people who believe that they are not intelligent, capable, or creative despite evidence of high achievement” (Clance & Imes, 1978). In other words, it is a feeling of not possessing the necessary qualifications to be in that particular setting or position. Imposter syndrome is a common feeling for many people, but research shows impostorism affects women and minorities disproportionately (Cokley et al, 2017). This can be owing to increased stress to measure up due to discrimination and racial biases, or the lack of representation and therefore feeling like an outsider. The significant levels of impostorism experienced by some minority groups also lead to higher levels of anxiety and discrimination‐related depression (Cokley et al, 2017). Feeling like an imposter can also be caused by and heightened when mentees are treated as such in the workplace.

Imposter syndrome is a common feeling for many people, but research shows impostorism affects women and minorities disproportionately.

People who experience imposter syndrome lack self‐confidence, constantly compare themselves to others, display self‐doubt and negative attitudes, focus on past mistakes, have difficulty accepting praise, and an extreme fear of failure (Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991). Mentors should take notice of these characteristics, particularly as they manifest in minority trainees. There are resources available on how to overcome imposter syndrome that mentors could share with mentees. Valerie Young, an internationally recognized expert on imposter syndrome, lists ten simple strategies, which include encouraging mentees to acknowledge and admit to the feelings, separate the feelings from fact, develop a new script, visualize success, reward themselves, and “fake it until you make it” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7v-GG3SEWQ). Feeling like an imposter can also be caused by the environment, and it is therefore important to address the root of the problem along with the symptoms. Mentors should encourage an inclusive laboratory climate with culturally competent members who recognize, respond, and combat implicit and unconscious biases. The following sections detail how to create such an environment for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) mentees, but the advice is generally applicable.

Cultural competence

Mentoring can be challenging, and cultural incompetency can further curtail the message a mentor is conveying. Cultural differences and biases can create tension, behavior shifts, and miscommunication within the working space. Preconceived judgments and unwarranted opinions about a person's belief, passion, or view of the world can lead to disappointment and futile arguments. In turn, trainees may feel intimidated in expressing their background and culture to avoid offending others, especially their mentor. Therefore, cultural competence—the ability to understand and communicate with people across cultures—is important to protect mentees of diverse backgrounds from misconceptions and bias.

Cultural competence involves more than being respectful and nonjudgmental of different cultures (Stuckey & Wright, 2019). It is rather an ongoing process of learning about the attitudes, customs, congruent behaviors, and values of said cultures. Rather than making assumptions, mentors should be more forthcoming to better understand their trainee's cultural background. Demonstrating cultural competence as a mentor fosters a safe, respectful, and reciprocal relationship with trust and respect for differences. Moreover, it promotes efficient communication and interactions and motivates mentees to be more productive (Stuckey & Wright, 2019).

Demonstrating cultural competence as a mentor fosters a safe, respectful, and reciprocal relationship with trust and respect for differences.

Implicit and unconscious bias

When applying cultural competence, a mentor should analyze his or her own beliefs for biases. There is a plethora of work that demonstrates the need to pay closer attention to implicit biases and to understand that these may give more insight to subconscious or even overt biases (Chatterjee et al, 2020).

Minoritized trainees can experience additional stress when an individual is chosen as the favorite minority or treated as the only one. A minoritized trainee may feel stressed when they are highlighted as the “only one” because of the pressure to live up to expectations. Additionally, BIPOC trainees may carry the heavy burden of feeling like their performance and productivity level determines the acceptance of other minoritized trainees in the future.

… BIPOC trainees may carry the heavy burden of feeling like their performance and productivity level determines the acceptance of other minoritized trainees in the future.

Concerns such as these are due to unconscious bias by others, which creates unrealistic expectations, and inhibits mentorship and the performance trainees. Unconscious biases are prejudices or judgments in favor or against a person based on bias or prejudice against that person's group. Examples would include assuming that a person of color is not a student or assuming that research groups with diverse backgrounds are “non‐productive” or “low‐impact”. These types of generalizations are damaging to the reputation of both minoritized scholars and their mentors. Mentors must encourage their trainees to trust themselves that their work will be rewarded, and their research will speak for itself.

Creating an inclusive laboratory environment

Inclusion is when all individual to contribute to an organization, such as a laboratory or a research team, efficiently and without hurdles (Ahmad et al, 2019). Mentors and PIs should create such an inclusive environment to ensure that all members including minorities are able to reach their fullest potential as scientists. Since BIPOCs represent only a small fraction of the scientific community, they are often the sole minority in a given training space such as a classroom, conference, or laboratory. Such an environment can make them feel isolated and diminish their sense of belonging. A seemingly small gesture—greeting all trainees by name when they arrive or asking for their feedback on experiments, presentations, and so on—can already promote an inclusive training environment. Open communication right from the beginning can also mentees to feel as part of the team. Mentors can strengthen the scientific identity of mentees by explicitly inviting them to laboratory seminars, conferences, or meetings. It is essential that mentors build a sense of community so that trainees feel connected to research and to the greater scientific environment.

While mentors may not themselves be minorities, they can demonstrate their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion by leveraging their privilege to support scientists from marginalized groups. They can, for example, engage in training programs focused on improving diversity in science, advocate for minority trainees or speak out against bias in public and private settings. We also encourage mentors use their laboratory meetings not just to discuss scientific discoveries, but also as a platform to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues facing their trainees and the larger scientific community. Scientific discovery requires that everyone has the opportunity to test their ideas in an environment that celebrates creativity and accepts diversity.

Micro‐ and macroaggressions

Certain behaviors can tremendously affect the well‐being and the performance of members from underrepresented groups: stereotype threat and micro‐ and macroaggressions (Steele & Aronson, 1995). Stereotype threat is defined as the tension caused by perceived stereotypes about a certain group defined by ethnicity, gender, or sexual identity. Examples of stereotypes that exist in STEM fields include but are not limited to the following: Latin Americans and academic performance; African Americans and academic performance; women and math; or LGBTQ+ individuals and gay culture and issues. The same stereotypes can also apply to lower‐income and first‐generation college students from a non‐academic background.

Mentors must be careful not to contribute to projecting these known canonical stereotypes onto individuals as this could trigger “race priming”, the onset of negative racial predispositions. Race priming occurs for instance when a student is told that they will have problems with a test because of their skin color. A study examining this bias reported that, after eliminating the stereotype threat, students of color performed well as anyone else (Steele & Aronson, 1995). Similar findings have been described with women and achievements in high‐level math (Good et al, 2008).

Microaggressions are minor and delicate instances of marginalization that, over time, build a negative attitude. Examples may include noting a non‐native English speaker's “good” English or commenting that someone excels at something due to their nationality, that is, perpetuating a stereotype but couching it in a compliment. Simply ignoring or dismissing an idea, question, or just the presence of a BIPOC or a female trainee is another microaggression seen far too often. Macroaggressions are more overt marginalizing effects that can have an immediate impact on performance. An example might be stating that someone has succeeded despite their minority status or only receiving an award because of affirmative action. For a young trainee, it is very damaging to be told that one's acceptance into a program denied that opportunity for someone else who was “meant” to be there. Although these sorts of aggressions seem minor, they are a key factor for minoritized trainees to become frustrated with science.

Funding challenges

According to the NSF and NIH, BIPOCs are underrepresented in STEM and specific grants are therefore available for universities, colleges, and K‐12 schools to increase their representation. However, such funding schemes could be interpreted as taking away money from other students or scientists or research fields. Moreover, colleagues might think that a grant had been awarded minority status rather than merit. These types of stereotype threat can discourage minorities from competing for postdoc awards, early‐career faculty awards, or other funding opportunities and thereby impair their careers.

Mentors should therefore encourage minoritized trainees to apply for funding, awards, and positions of all types. This level of affirmation from the mentor can help BIPOC trainees receive the support needed to succeed in their work without fearing a stigma of preferential treatment. Irrespective, it is important for all students, regardless of income, ethnicity, or sex, to be prepared for and take up all opportunities, and that scientists respect all awards as valuable and prestigious. Accordingly, specific honors and awards for minority scientists should not be labeled as less and dismissed. Importantly, mentors can encourage their students to support BIPOC representation in STEM and motivate others to rectify past realities that have shaped this gap.

Unknown written rules

Whatever race or culture a person identifies with, everyone grows up with unwritten rules to follow, which impose behavioral constraints. Growing up as a BIPOC or as a LBQT+ involved adjusting and adhering to different set of rules. In science and many other professional careers, one of the biggest hurdles minoritized scholars experience is a sense of inadequacy—see imposter syndrome above. We constantly feel that we have to be more prepared than everyone else and that we have to work harder to prove our merit. This is further supported by quantitative analysis showing that demographically underrepresented scientists produce discoveries with greater novelty but are less likely to advance in academia (Hofstra et al, 2020). This is especially true for first‐generation college students. Years later, many of these individuals find themselves angry, frustrated, demoralized, and burned out.

It is important that mentors have an open dialogue with their trainees about these unwritten rules to better understand their mentees, where they come from, and their burden.

Although BIPOC trainees have been more successful than their ancestors, and are experiencing a much higher standard of living, education, and quality of life, they have paid a tremendous price to get to this point. They have been forced to assimilate into a different cultural background. However, even if they “sell out”, it does not necessarily guarantee their acceptance in mainstream science. Additionally, many may feel that they are alone in these constant battles and struggles, both internally and externally. It is important that mentors have an open dialogue with their trainees about these unwritten rules to better understand their mentees, where they come from, and their burden. The best way is to simply ask. This does not need to be a formal meeting; it can easily be brought up in a casual conversation. Knowing these small things will give mentors better insight into the struggles that his/her trainee is going through every day and thus are better prepared to help them overcome these burdens and struggles and advance in science (Fig 1).

Figure 1. Mentoring minority trainees in STEM .

On the left, mechanisms by which mentors can support their mentees and on the right, behaviors that limit the success of minority mentees.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

EMBO Reports (2020) 21: e51269