Empirically Based Career Development Program for Early Career Trainees Supported by NIDDK

Despite increased awareness and provision of resources, there remain challenges in developing a workforce in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics, medicine (STEMM) that broadly represents the US population. There is a “leaky pipeline” in which there is attrition at each stage of training and career advancement. Prior studies showed that diversity within teams has many benefits, including innovation and strong information processing. Several conceptual frameworks have identified social supports that are mediated by enhanced self-efficacy and scientific identity to improve persistence to pursue a career in a STEMM field. Career development programs that offer evidence-based interventions that are rooted in these empirical models may be an individual-level approach to ensure the success of the pipeline of researchers in biomedical sciences. The purpose of this project, in partnership with NIDDK, is to offer a career development program to early career trainees who are funded by NIDDK grants. We hypothesize that, over five years, program scholars will report a strong sense of belonging and self-efficacy in the field; sustain and advance in their current career trajectory; and obtain the next appropriate level of funding to establish their independent program of research. The potential impact of this project is to ensure the success of early- and mid-career researchers who represent all US population groups who conducting research relevant to the priority areas of NIDDK. Specifically, this project targets individuals who are at the transition from culmination of training or early career investigators to established researcher. The long-term potential implications include the potential to realize both direct benefits for program scholars as well as broader indirect effects for future researchers