Diverse Mentoring Connections Across Institutional Boundaries in the Biomedical Sciences: Innovative Graph Database Analysis (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND MyNRMN is a national, virtual mentoring platform that seeks to connect mentors and mentees in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) in order to support persistence of underrepresented minorities in the fields. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the diversity of the mentoring connections on the MyNRMN platform. This platform provides mentoring, networking, and professional development tools as well as measures who connects on the platform and the demographic characteristics of these connections. METHODS We observed and analyzed diverse connections by race, ethnicity, gender, institution type, and educational attainment between July 1, 2016 through May 31, 2021. Results: In total, there were 15,010 connections with 2,261 mentees and 1,583 mentors across 1,625 institutions contributing data. RESULTS In total, there were 15,010 connections with 2,261 mentees and 1,583 mentors across 1,625 institutions contributing data. CONCLUSIONS The MyNRMN Platform provides a powerful tool to permit virtual mentoring across institutions throughout the United States. To date, the utility of the networks across institutions and how mentors and mentees connected was unknown. This study demonstrates the diversity of connections occurring on the platform and potential for future use.