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Few, if any, educational interventions intended to increase underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students in biological and behavioral sciences are informed by theory and research on career persistence. Training and Education to Advance Minority Scholars in Science (TEAM-Science) is a program funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with the twin goals of increasing the number of URM students entering and completing a PhD in BBS and increasing the number of these students who pursue academic careers. A framework for career development in graduate research training is proposed using social cognitive career theory. Based on this framework, TEAM-Science has five core components: 1) mentor training for the research advisor, 2) eight consensus-derived fundamental competencies required for a successful academic career, 3) career coaching by a senior faculty member, 4) an individualized career development plan that aligns students’ activities with the eight fundamental competencies, and 5) a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats personal career analysis. This paper describes the theoretical framework used to guide development of these components, the research and evaluation plan, and early experience implementing the program. We discuss the potential of this framework to increase desired career outcomes for URM graduate trainees in mentored research programs and, thereby, strengthen the effectiveness of such interventions on participants’ career behaviors.

Objective: Having diverse faculty in academic health centers will help diversify the healthcare workforce and reduce health disparities. Implicit race bias is one factor that contributes to the underrepresentation of Black faculty. We designed the videogame ''Fair Play'' in which players assume the role of a Black graduate student named Jamal Davis. As Jamal, players experience subtle race bias while completing ''quests'' to obtain a science degree. We hypothesized that participants randomly assigned to play the game would have greater empathy for Jamal and lower implicit race bias than participants randomized to read narrative text describing Jamal's experience. Materials and Methods: University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate students were recruited via e-mail and randomly assigned to play ''Fair Play'' or read narrative text through an online link. Upon completion, participants took an Implicit Association Test to measure implicit bias and answered survey questions assessing empathy toward Jamal and awareness of bias. Results: As hypothesized, gameplayers showed the least implicit bias but only when they also showed high empathy for Jamal (P = 0.013). Gameplayers did not show greater empathy than text readers, and women in the text condition reported the greatest empathy for Jamal (P = 0.008). However, high empathy only predicted lower levels of implicit bias among those who actively took Jamal's perspective through gameplay (P = 0.014). Conclusions: A videogame in which players experience subtle race bias as a Black graduate student has the potential to reduce implicit bias, possibly because of a game's ability to foster empathy through active perspective taking.

This study examines the academic and career goals set by urban youth as well as their perceived career barriers and the strategies they anticipate using to face these barriers. Nine adolescents in the 11th and 12th grades from two large, urban public schools in the Midwest were interviewed for this study. Students’ responses were analyzed using the consensual qualitative research method developed by Hill and colleagues. Seven domains were identified in participant responses, addressing participant ideas about both ideal and alternate career choices, the influences on their career choices, potential obstacles in their future, and methods for managing obstacles. Categories and subcategories are described and discussed and implications for practice and future research are offered.