Mentoring programs:
Broadening problem-solving research opportunities

Women and minorities are underrepresented in many research fields, depriving those fields of critical talent and slowing the pace of innovation (Risi et al 2022, Yang et al 2022). 

Recent evidence indicates that mentoring programs can support the success of students and early career researchers who are underrepresented in their disciplines. For example, Ginther et al (2020) and Ginther and Na (2021) found that randomly assigning pre-tenure women economics faculty to a mentoring program organized by senior women faculty increased coauthoring, publication, and citation rates, and increased the probability that mentees would secure tenure-track jobs at highly ranked institutions. These findings suggest that mentoring programs for underrepresented students and faculty can increase their success on the academic career path.

The Social Science Research Council draws upon the research on mentoring to develop and administer mentoring programs that broaden research opportunities across disciplines.