ASA Mentoring Working Group Discusses Findings, Next Steps
Carolyn M. Rutter, Fred Hutch Cancer Center; Nicola Justice, Pacific Lutheran University; Frost Hubbard, Westat; and Ruth Etzioni, Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Mentoring can change individual lives and enhance the diversity and breadth of our profession. In the words of ASA President Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, “Our careers and life journeys are unique but, for many of us, they retain the indelible footprints of our mentors.” Indeed, her career path demonstrates the impact mentoring can have.
To understand strategies of successful mentoring programs and identify potential gaps, members of the mentoring working group created by Ghosh-Dastidar conducted an environmental scan that included surveys of the ASA community.
Section and Chapter Survey
The group assessed ongoing mentoring activities conducted by ASA sections and chapters by asking officers the following three questions:
1. Do you currently sponsor a mentoring program?
2. Do you feel it is adequate for the demands of your membership?
3. Would an association-wide mentoring program with novel models for mentorship be of interest?
In two weeks, the working group received responses from 23 sections and 11 chapters. About 26% of sections and 9% of chapters offer a mentoring program, and 47% indicated uncertainty about whether member demands were adequately met. Most (76%) respondents thought an association-wide mentoring program would be of interest to their members; another 21% were unsure.
The group also included an open-ended question allowing for input and advice and building upon section and chapter efforts as they work toward an ASA-wide program. A key issue that came through in the comments was sustainability. As one respondent wrote, “The main concern is always the burden on the officers who are volunteering their time.” This can lead to a cycle of great enthusiasm for a program that withers, only to be picked up again a few years later with renewed enthusiasm. The working group’s goal is to break this cycle and build a sustainable mentoring model.
Member Survey
Next, the group turned to ASA members. Their online questionnaire included the following three questions:
1. Do you currently participate in formal or informal career mentoring?
2. Would you be willing to participate in a new ASA-wide career mentoring program?
3. If yes, would you be willing to participate as a career mentor, mentee, or both?
The working group received responses from 179 members in two weeks. Responses came from members across a range of employment sectors: 45% were from academia/education; 17% were from business/industry; 10% were from nonprofit; 9% were from government; 5% were independent contractors/consultants; 11% were students; and 3% were retired.
Overall, 59% of responding members participate in career mentoring and 81% would be willing to participate in a new ASA program. Of the 41% not currently participating in mentoring, 77% were willing to participate in a new ASA program. Two-thirds of members were interested in participating as a mentor to give back, and 43% were willing to participate as both a mentor and mentee, which is an idea the working group will build upon.
A few themes arose from open-ended responses. One was that mentoring is an ongoing need and not just for students and people beginning their careers. There is a clear need for mid-career mentoring. Mentoring can help navigate many facets of being a professional at this stage, including work-life balance.
Another theme was the value of receiving mentoring from outside one’s organization or institution of employment. For example, mentoring can address workplace isolation, which can result from being the ‘only one’ in the workplace (members noted being the only female or only statistician).
A third theme was around poor ‘matches’ in prior one-to-one mentoring experiences that may reflect differences in values or lack of clear expectations. One pointed to a community-based approach to mentoring: “I particularly enjoyed the [mentoring] circles, as there is great power in the peer-to-peer discussions.”
ASA to Cultivate Communities of Practice
Ghosh-Dastidar’s mentoring initiative builds on three principles: collaboration; community; and opportunity. Aligning with these principles, the working group chose communities of practice as the central component of the mentoring initiative.
Although the term “communities of practice” is new, it describes a structure that has existed for centuries. Members have a shared goal or specific practice that defines the community. The community includes members across a broad swath of experience levels, from novice to expert.
Having participants at various experience levels means there is less pressure on one person to answer all the questions and a wider range of avenues for questions and conversations. Communities of practice foster a culture of learning and growing together and enable peer-to-peer mentoring and co-mentoring. A community of practice may be as small as three members or as large as 100.
Communities of practice would complement the one-to-one programs offered by many sections and chapters and found in many institutions. They would also address many of the limitations that can arise within one-to-one mentoring relationships.
One such issue is power dynamics: When the mentor has more power than the mentee, it can undercut the effectiveness of mentoring.
Another issue is the unrealistic expectation that one person can address all mentoring needs. One-to-one mentoring depends heavily on the ideas of one person, rather than collective wisdom.
Finally, one-to-one mentoring relationships are a large investment for both the mentor and mentee. While they can be mutually rewarding, this high level of investment limits both their reach and sustainability.
Next Steps
Communities of practice often arise naturally but can be formed intentionally. Methods for cultivating communities of practice often involve gathering in person, but the working group members prefer strategies available for a remote community. This approach is more inclusive of ASA members who may not be able to meet in person and would benefit from joining a community of practice.
Communities of practice could be built as an extension of educational and career advice webinars, which would be used to identify a core group of people interested in a common topic.
An initial group of at least three people committed to building the community would be identified. Volunteers would be provided with a set of guidelines to help them foster the community and set expectations and boundaries. The goal is to avoid overburdening these volunteers and develop a sustainable approach to building communities of practice.
Guidelines will include a plan for disbanding communities that have served their purpose and splitting communities that become too large for meaningful connections. The community would kick off with a video call and may choose to have regularly scheduled calls. Ongoing engagement and discussion would happen through online communities formed on the ASA Community. These connections would be strengthened by occasional in-person meetings at ASA conferences (of the communities’ choosing).
Your Thoughts
Do you have areas of practice you would like to build communities around? Let the working group know by visiting the mentoring in community homepage and filling out the online interest form. In the ASA Community, you can also search “mentoring in community” and join the community to reach out to working group members. Finally, you can talk with them at the Joint Statistical Meetings in August or attend an upcoming virtual town hall meeting.
Mentoring Working Group Members
Prince Allotey
Maria DeYoreo
Ruth Etzioni (co-chair)
Frost Hubbard
Madhu Mazumdar
Carolyn Rutter (co-chair)
Donna LaLonde (ASA liaison)
To learn more about communities of practice, check out Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation and Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge.
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