Alex Hanlon and David Morganstein

If we were fortunate, we benefited from someone who took an interest in our professional lives. Perhaps we met such a person when we were graduate students, or perhaps early on in our career as a statistician. While mentoring frequently happens organically, our association—along with its chapters and sections—offers a wide array of mentorship opportunities for both mentors and mentees and provides members with a way to honor outstanding mentors.

In 2014, ASA President-elect David Morganstein proposed that the Washington Statistical Society (WSS) start a mentoring program. Mentoring would become one of his presidential initiatives, bringing focus to existing programs, formalizing others, and initiating new ones. Such programs can be found within ASA committees, sections, and interest groups, including the Committee on Applied Statisticians, Committee on Minorities in Statistics, Statistics in Epidemiology Section, and Caucus for Women in Statistics. The ASA’s annual Conference on Statistical Practice hosts a successful mentoring program for conference attendees. Much has been written about the various programs and activities offered within our organization, including an entire TAS issue dedicated to mentoring (The American Statistician, Volume 71, Issue 1, 2017).

Council Activities and Plans

At JSM in Vancouver last summer, the Council on Chapters (COC) Governing Board’s Officers Appreciation Workshop—organized by Vice Chair Isaac Nuamah—focused on mentorship at the chapter level. Prior to JSM, an electronic survey was sent to all chapter officers to gain insight into ongoing mentoring activities and to gauge the level of interest in such programs or activities. Twenty-one chapters responded to the survey, with four reporting current engagement in mentorship programs and 10 expressing an interest in starting one.

During the workshop, the four chapters engaged in mentorship activities shared their experiences, including North Carolina (NC), represented by Elizabeth Mannshardt; Philadelphia, represented by Tom Short; Southern Ontario, represented by Wendy Lou; and WSS, represented by Mark Otto. In addition, Morganstein, Sujata Patil (Statistics in Epidemiology Section), and Ji-Hyun Lee (Caucus for Women in Statistics) shared their experiences.

North Carolina

Briefly, the NC Chapter hosted a speed mentoring session for students and early career statisticians in April 2018. The intent was to informally and quickly connect professionals in a small-group setting. The session was meant to foster short-term relationships with the potential to solidify long-term relationships. Mentors and mentees discussed networking, goal setting, and career development with targeted questions and activities. Future speed-mentoring events will likely be planned.

In November, the NC Chapter offered their first Mentoring and Early Career Development Workshop, featuring prominent statisticians and interactive sessions on goal-structuring and professional development. Workshop participants were given the opportunity to meet with then ASA President Lisa LaVange in a small-group setting and to network with the NC ASA community.

Philadelphia

In 2017, the Philadelphia Chapter mentoring program was initiated by surveying all chapter members about their interest in becoming a mentee or mentor. Mentors and mentees were matched based on their responses. Guidelines on starting relationships were provided to dyad participants, with periodic follow-up that included suggestions for interactions and tips for enhancing the relationship. The Philadelphia Chapter began with 26 participants, paired by specialty area. After the first year, the overall feeling was that the program was worthwhile, and thus it continued into a second year, starting in the fall of 2018.

Southern Ontario

Members of the Southern Ontario Chapter of the ASA and the Southern Ontario Regional Association of the Statistical Society of Canada (SORA) engage in mentorship both as mentors and/or mentees through the Mentorship Program for Accredited Statisticians of the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC). Mentoring also takes place through an annual career advice panel and indirectly through networking at various workshops held throughout the year. An innovative tool used to connect mentors and mentees is the “Ask Me” badges worn by potential mentors during such meetings; this approach to connection allows mentees to self-identify with mentors based on personal and professional interests.

Washington Statistical Society

The WSS started a mentoring program in 2015, entering their third year in the fall of 2018. The program is open to non-members; however, such participants would eventually become WSS members through this program. The premise is that membership offers many benefits beyond participating in the mentoring program—matching mentors and mentees provides a great opportunity for mentees to develop as statisticians, mentors to give back to newer members of our profession, and for everyone to stay connected to the WSS.

The WSS Mentorship Initiative was inspired by and draws from the mentoring initiative underway throughout the ASA that encourages chapters and sections to consider mentoring programs. It also suggests the initiation of a regular acknowledgement, such as the annual selection of an outstanding mentor. The WSS is a leader in this regard, having co-sponsored the Jeanne Griffith Award more than a decade ago. The potential benefits of participating in the program are described well by the ASA Committee on Applied Statisticians.

Following the JSM workshop presentation, active discussion ensued, with many questions focused on how to start a mentorship program. Details of the workshop were published in the Spring 2019 issue of Chapter Chatter. As a follow-up, the COCGB invited JSM presenters to engage in a moderated virtual workshop intended for chapters and students interested in mentorship activities or programs on March 18. For more information about the workshop, contact Alex Hanlon.