A scientific communication mentoring intervention benefits diverse mentees with language variety related discomfort.

We studied social-psychological effects over time of a faculty-mentor workshop intervention that addressed attitudes associated with language variety and their impact on scientific communication (SC) skill development of PhD and postdoctoral STEM research trainees (N = 274). Six months after their mentors attended the workshop, all mentees had significant gains in productivity in speaking tasks. In particular, mentees with high language discomfort rated their quality of communication with their mentor and their enthusiasm about communicating more highly (p < .05 for both measures), compared to mentees with low language discomfort. In addition, mentees raised speaking nonstandardized varieties of English reported significant reductions in discomfort related to language use (p = .003), compared to mentees raised speaking standardized English. We conclude that training mentors to understand and respond to language diversity and development results in multiple beneficial outcomes for mentees, including the amelioration of language-variety related discomfort in the research environment.

Translating mentoring interventions research into practice: Evaluation of an evidence-based workshop for research mentors on developing trainees' scientific communication skills.

A key part of keeping doctoral and postdoctoral trainees in STEM research careers is mentoring. Our previous research indicates that mentoring trainees in scientific communication (SC) skill development increases research career intention through two social-cognitive constructs, self-efficacy in and outcome expectations for acquiring SC skills, as well as science identity. While many mentor training interventions exist, no programs focus on developing SC skills specifically. The "Scientific Communication Advances Research Excellence" (SCOARE) program trains mentors to address trainee scientific communication (SC) skill development as an innovative approach to increase trainee research career persistence. The SCOARE training is a half-day workshop for faculty mentors of research trainees at five sites nationally. Informed by previous research, workshop content focuses on practical, effective mentoring strategies to develop trainee speaking and writing skills. Anonymous evaluation data collected after each workshop indicates participant satisfaction and reported positive increases in skills and knowledge in applying new and various techniques when mentoring trainees (skills) and how linguistic bias influences our perception of others (knowledge). This article outlines the research-based development of the SCOARE program, the first two years' of workshop evaluations showing positive increases in skills and knowledge, and lessons learned to increase participant satisfaction with the program.

Research Career Intentions Among Non-Native English-Speaking Graduate and Postdoctoral Trainees in STEM-Results from Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Studies.

International graduate trainees, many of whom are non-native English-speaking (L2) trainees, comprise more than half of graduate-level trainees in STEM, but little is known regarding factors that influence their career intentions, especially those that foster their growth as scientists to achieve their full potential in research. Thus, the purpose of our studies was to examine the relationship between L2 status and contextual factors that help shape the learning experiences and plans for research-focused careers. Study 1 collected cross-sectional survey data from doctoral and postdoctoral trainees (N=510) from research institutes in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. We examined which factors were associated with research career intentions using multiple linear regression analysis. Study 2 collected longitudinal data from doctoral and postdoctoral trainees (N=185) from 71 institutions in 33 states in the U.S. Repeated measures of career intentions were evaluated using mixed-effect modeling, and cross-tabulation analysis evaluated job-seeking behaviors by language status. Results showed that L2 trainees had stronger intentions to pursue research careers than did native English-speaking trainees (L1), controlling for other variables. Mentoring, trainee self-efficacy, and the perception of working more than mentors expected influenced each career intention differently. In Study 2, career intentions did not change over time for L2 or L1 trainees, but L2s preferred working in higher education or research institutes more than L1s. L2s, however, were more likely to be in early stages of seeking jobs compared to L1s. These findings provide implications for research mentors, advisors, and academic administrators in facilitating L2 career advancement and success.