TY - JOUR
T1 - Faculty Reflections on the Institute for Aging and Social Work Experience
AU - Bonifas, Robin
AU - Mehrotra, Gita R.
N1 - Funding Information:
As depicted in Table 1, interviewees were asked “if participants were to take away one lesson from the institute, what would you want that to be?” In response to this question, respondents consistently talked about participants’ need to apply for funding, particularly from the NIH. As one program mentor simply stated, “Well, of course the first rule: if you don’t apply, you don’t get selected.” This sentiment was mirrored by other interviewees who pointed out that research funding is there and available for good proposals, but, as one faculty mentor explained, “The guarantee for not getting your research funded is to not apply.” Relatedly, respondents spoke of the importance of utilizing NIH program staff for help in developing research ideas and grant applications. One NIH-affiliated interviewee noted that NIH funding is “less daunting than it seems” and that there are many people within NIH who are available to help with the application process. Another respondent stated that the most important lesson was that of persistence in applying for funding:
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Considerable research highlights the value of mentorship to the professional development of early career faculty in academia, yet less research focuses on factors motivating individuals to provide formal guidance to junior colleagues. Given that new social work faculty, in particular, may not receive sufficient mentoring, understanding what attracts senior scholars to serve as mentors can inform the development of future endeavors to promote mentorship programs in social work. This article presents findings from interviews with eight out of nine faculty leaders from the Summer Institute on Aging and Social Work, an advanced training program in aging research for social work faculty, regarding what prompted their participation in an ongoing mentorship role and how they were impacted by serving in such a capacity. Results from thematic analysis reveal three primary domains in faculty mentors' narratives: (a) their role and experiences in the institute, (b) reflections on the program itself, and (c) advice for emergent social work scholars in aging. Faculty unanimously asserted that the personal and professional satisfaction stemming from mentoring early career academics strongly motivated their participation in the institute. In addition, they appreciated the mutual learning that arose as they shared expertise in research and grantsmanship, while gaining knowledge from institute participants regarding social work's unique perspective on aging-related issues. Advice for emergent scholars centered on encouraging resilience during the grant application and reapplication process and effectively aligning research agendas with the teaching and research expectations of their respective institutions.
AB - Considerable research highlights the value of mentorship to the professional development of early career faculty in academia, yet less research focuses on factors motivating individuals to provide formal guidance to junior colleagues. Given that new social work faculty, in particular, may not receive sufficient mentoring, understanding what attracts senior scholars to serve as mentors can inform the development of future endeavors to promote mentorship programs in social work. This article presents findings from interviews with eight out of nine faculty leaders from the Summer Institute on Aging and Social Work, an advanced training program in aging research for social work faculty, regarding what prompted their participation in an ongoing mentorship role and how they were impacted by serving in such a capacity. Results from thematic analysis reveal three primary domains in faculty mentors' narratives: (a) their role and experiences in the institute, (b) reflections on the program itself, and (c) advice for emergent social work scholars in aging. Faculty unanimously asserted that the personal and professional satisfaction stemming from mentoring early career academics strongly motivated their participation in the institute. In addition, they appreciated the mutual learning that arose as they shared expertise in research and grantsmanship, while gaining knowledge from institute participants regarding social work's unique perspective on aging-related issues. Advice for emergent scholars centered on encouraging resilience during the grant application and reapplication process and effectively aligning research agendas with the teaching and research expectations of their respective institutions.
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U2 - 10.1080/03601277.2014.852940
DO - 10.1080/03601277.2014.852940
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84890327583
SN - 0360-1277
VL - 40
SP - 301
EP - 314
JO - Educational Gerontology
JF - Educational Gerontology
IS - 4
ER -