Assessment of NIH Minority Research and Training Programs Phase 3 (2005) / Chapter Skim
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4 Graduate Fellowships and Traineeship Programs
4 Graduate Fellowships and Traineeship Programs
Pages 85-120
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From page 85... ...
Graduate trainees also experience their own unique brand of stress. Many are financially strapped.
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From page 86... ...
Such phenomena may also affect some nonminority trainees. On campus, minority trainees may experience further isolation.37 They have fewer peers with whom they share a common cultural background.
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From page 87... ...
"Many underrepresented minority students enter terminal master's degree programs and have the potential to become independent research scientists," according to the program announcement. "That potential may be developed by improving the skills they need to be
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From page 88... ...
During the period covered by this retrospective study (1970-1999) , two NIH institutes offered minority-targeted versions of the NRSA Institutional Training Grants program.
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From page 89... ...
Kirchstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) program for minorities provides predoctoral support through T35 institutional training grants.
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From page 90... ...
3. Information was collected through formal interviews with program administrators at recipient institutions (PARIs)
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· The 1999 working group recommended an increase in the number and percentage of underrepresented minority students in R25 Bridges institutions who successfully transfer from master's to doctoral programs by achieving a 90 percent transfer rate by 2005. · However, in the most recent year (FY 2003)
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From page 92... ...
2000. The Careers and Professional Activities of Former NIGMS Minority Access to Research Careers Predoctoral Fellows.
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1998. Careers and Professional Activities of Former NIGMS Minority Access to Research Careers Predoctoral Fellows.
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The percentage of former F31 MARC predoctoral fellows employed by the government was extremely small.49 Trainee Interview Data As shown in Table 4-3, NIH supported 16,480 graduate trainees in the study's universe of targeted and nontargeted comparison programs between 1970 and 1999.50 The NIH-approved data contractor utilized for this study interviewed a total of 328 trainees who were supported by these programs during the time frame of the study. In the absence of NIH-wide electronic trainee tracking data, the NIH data contractor was not successful in its efforts to locate and interview trainees.
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From page 95... ...
Predoctoral URM 10 10 0 0 0 Faculty Training Grant Targeted (R-03) NIMH URM 34 34 12 11 1h Dissertation Grant All All Programs URM 4,971 1,464 158 132 26 Non- 6,364 500 86 0 86 URM Unknown 5,145 500 84 10 74 Total 16,480 2,464 328 142 186
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From page 96... ...
For purposes of defining the universe and the sample, it was assumed that all participants in targeted programs were underrepresented minorities. Among those interviewed, the number of URMs also includes individuals who self-identified as Pacific Islander and the number of non-URMs includes those who self-identified as Asian or white in the interview process.
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From page 97... ...
About one-half of all graduate-level trainees were married or living in a long-term relationship. The F31 fellows and T32 trainees, regardless of minority status, were more likely to have dependents than those who participated in T35 short-term training grants.
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From page 98... ...
A majority of F31 fellows and T32 trainees and T35 short-term institutional training grant respondents reported holding scholarships while in graduate school. This was not true for R25 Bridges to the Doctorate respondents whose graduate school support came from a variety of sources, including spouse or family.
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From page 99... ...
Respondents reported less frequent interaction with other colleagues, but there were also differences in this interaction. Minority respondents supported by T35 short-term training grants were more likely to report interaction with other colleagues than did nonminority respondents.
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Whether respondents who received T35 short-term training grants expected the program to improve teaching skills depended on whether the respondent was in a targeted or nontargeted program. Only a fraction of respondents in nontargeted programs had this expectation, but most of those in targeted programs did.
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From page 101... ...
For T35 short-term training grant respondents, most recent employer responses were highly variable. Just over one-half of all F31 fellows and T32 Trainee respondents in these programs reported being a senior author on one or more published research papers subsequent to earning their Ph.D.; this proportion was higher for nonminority trainees than for minority trainees.
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From page 102... ...
The prestige of their awards featured prominently among their responses, especially for those respondents who were F31 NRSA predoctoral fellows. · A handful of trainees who were supported under nontargeted T32 NRSA Institutional Training Grants also noted that there was a need for more trainees from underrepresented minority groups.
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From page 103... ...
While financial support was most frequently cited as the best feature of these programs, when asked what improvements to the program they would suggest, the response offered most frequently among those who answered the question was to increase the stipend and other financial support. A disturbing and somewhat ironic observation was offered by three F31 NRSA predoctoral fellows who said that when they received the fellowship, they lost the health insurance that had been provided to them as part of their institutional training grant support.
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From page 104... ...
A large number of respondents who were trained on targeted or nontargeted training grants indicated that they believed their program could improve outreach to new trainees. Grant Writing and Application Process.
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First, almost exclusively among minorities on T32 NRSA institutional training grants -- targeted or nontargeted-respondents indicated that being a minority focused their research interests on issues related to minority communities or populations. Second, a substantial number of respondents, chiefly those on NIMH R03 dissertation research grants, said it helped them secure the grant in the first place, and another substantial number of minority respondents in nontargeted training programs indicated that being a minority created opportunities for them.
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From page 106... ...
In the other case, the program was initiated when the program administrator saw the announcement from NIH and decided to respond to it in partnership with a master's degree institution at which the administrator had previously been a faculty member. The master's degree institution had a healthy pool of students and a track record of success in recruiting minority trainees into the biomedical sciences.
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From page 107... ...
It is not unusual to have people well into their 40s." Trainee Experience in the Program The two R25 Bridges to the Doctorate program administrators were asked to discuss the kinds of challenges that trainees in the program face. They provided frank insights about academic and personal issues, as summarized below.
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From page 108... ...
Going to college, then doing a two- or three-year clinical training program, and then continuing on for more education is both from .
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NRSA Institutional Training Grant Interviews Five PARIs were interviewed about the T32 NRSA Institutional Training Grants that they administer. All of those interviewed were PIs on the grants.
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I could not get him any minority help." Some PARIs advertise the availability of training grant slots by using the web or purchasing advertisements in minority trade magazines. Within the institution, one PARI described an announcement that was circulated to faculty with the invitation to nominate their best predoctoral student.
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From page 111... ...
Can you find the funding for me for another year? '" One of the biggest challenges faced by trainees at another institution was described as follows: "My institution funnels all of the training grant stipends through the Financial Aid Office.
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There is a certain irony in that you can be on an NIH grant if you're not a citizen, but you can't be on any training grants. There are places right now where they can't even fill their training grants, because they don't have enough qualified applicants.
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For all training grants, why isn't there some effort to coordinate `tracking' efforts nationally? " Program Evaluation PARIs were asked whether they engage in any program evaluation activities in relation to the T32 NRSA Institutional Training Grant.
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From page 114... ...
They review our application when we do renewals." As another PARI described it, "We have a steering committee that evaluates the program at least annually, and usually, they are involved in all appointments to the training grants. So they review all trainees on an annual basis prior to reappointment." A number of PARIs stated that they view the five-year competitive renewal process as an evaluation of sorts.
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From page 115... ...
One institution is academically traditional and accepts only those trainees whose GPA is 3.6 or better as long as the student has stellar letters of recommendation and comes from a high-caliber undergraduate school. Others have a lower GPA requirement but scrutinize each application for evidence of a research orientation, such as previous lab research experience or a well-written personal statement that explains the student's curiosity for scientific research.
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From page 116... ...
116 Assessment of NIH Minority Research Training Programs: Phase 3 Trainee Experience in the Program A few PARIs commented that students' science and writing skills may be deficient. One PARI said, "Our program is academically challenging.
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Graduate Fellowships and Traineeship Programs 117 Unsuccessful Trainees PARIs were asked to describe situations in which an individual trainee was not successful in the T35 Short-Term Institutional Training program. The reasons given for "failing the program" vary widely.
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From page 118... ...
In fact, by putting time into this program you penalize your career." "Finally, [we need a better way to] reward people for throwing away their time on an altruistic activity that doesn't pay." Several PARIs reported that their institution allows nonminority students who are economically disadvantaged to participate in the programs.
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From page 119... ...
The T32 NRSA Institutional Training Grant trainees frequently noted the difficult job prospects they faced after completion of their training program. When trainees were asked to report the best feature of the training programs in which they participated, financial support was cited most frequently.
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From page 120... ...
All of those interviewed are associated with programs that are well established. When asked to comment on the challenges faced by minority trainees, the following themes figured prominently among program administrator responses: the lack of adequate academic preparation among minority trainees, the pervasiveness of financial hardship, frequent "culture shock" when transitioning to higher-caliber institutions, personal or family problems, and problems integrating or being accepted into one's research group.
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