PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Debray, Reena
AU  - Dewald-Wang, Emily A.
AU  - Ennis, Katherine K.
TI  - Mentoring practices predictive of doctoral student outcomes in a biological sciences cohort
AID  - 10.1101/2023.08.18.553806
DP  - 2023 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2023.08.18.553806
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/09/25/2023.08.18.553806.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/09/25/2023.08.18.553806.full
AB  - Despite the importance of a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives in biological research, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and students from non-traditional academic backgrounds remain underrepresented in the composition of university faculty. Through a study on doctoral students at a research-intensive university, we pinpoint advising from faculty as a critical component of graduate student experiences and productivity. Graduate students from minority backgrounds reported lower levels of support from their advisors and research groups. However, working with an advisor from a similar demographic background substantially improved productivity and well-being of these students. Several other aspects of mentoring practices positively predicted student success and belonging, including frequent one-on-one meetings, empathetic and constructive feedback, and relationships with other peer or faculty mentors. Our study highlights the need to renovate graduate education with a focus on retention – not just recruitment – to best prepare students for success in scientific careers.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.