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#4 Student Voices and Leadership
10/5/2022 1:45 am
By Kayla Seymore, Evan Dooley and Dr. Caitlin Banks.
In academia, we are doing 2 things:
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Pushing science forward through research
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Training the next generation to push science forward
In this sense, you are serving the next generation of scientists. One way you can confirm that this service is actually helping those it is intended for is to involve your constituents at every level. This has advantages for your students, your group, and you! Here are 4 good reasons why:
1. Students are the researchers of the future.
If we train no one, then no one will carry on our field. Students provide the opportunity for you to shape the future of our field. If we never show them what is involved in being a researcher, they will be ill-prepared to become researchers…and likely leave academia. Including students prepares them to lead successful research careers of their own.
2. Students bring perspective.
Students increase the demographic diversity of your team. They are from a different time and place than us, and bring life experiences from another generation. This diversity breeds innovation. In particular, underrepresented groups find relationships between concepts and ideas that others often miss (Hofstra et al., 2020). At organizational levels, students not only diversify your group, they also bring the CURRENT student perspective. This perspective is always changing. You may remember aspects of your own student experiences, but they’re living them right now!
3. Students distribute the workload.
Students can do data collection and analysis. Students can also help with grant drafts, IRB literature review, and other research logistics. Including students in this way helps show them the larger picture of where the group is headed, while building the skills needed to successfully contribute and eventually run a team.
4. Students are a renewable energy source.
Research is new and exciting to students. They don’t know about as many downsides yet. They are stoked to be involved and often astonished that they could be making a contribution to ~Science~. Let their excitement be contagious! This is especially true for undergraduate researchers. Undergrads come in and out quickly, so if you can find a way for your group to harness their energy, you will end up with a near constant power source.
So, hopefully by now you’re convinced that students should be included at every level of research. “But what does this look like? How could I be more inclusive of students?” Great questions! Here are a couple action items you can incorporate to be more inclusive of students.
Inclusive Leadership
Historically, leadership of students runs on a Hierarchical Leadership Model; also known as the Top-down Approach. At the top, senior leadership sets goals and objectives. Next, supervisors receive specific tasks to achieve these goals and objectives, then delegate those tasks to students at the bottom. While this type of leadership approach provides a clear chain of command and facilitates quick decision-making, the disadvantages are that each level of responsibility only communicates with the level directly above or below theirs. This can result in a lack of leadership feedback from, and impact to, the students. Additionally, without open and direct communication, the motivation for team goals/objectives gets lost and students often disengage from their tasks.
A more inclusive student leadership model is the Feedback Loop; which, as the name suggests, is based on continuous feedback. In the Planning stage, students provide input & have decision-making authority. In the Implementation stage, there is an organization-wide collaboration on planned tasks. In the Assessment stage, completed tasks are reviewed with students and feedback is discussed. And lastly, in the Modification stage, goals and tasks can be adjusted based on feedback. This type of leadership creates a “buy-in” for the team’s objectives and encourages a more collaborative process to accomplish goals. Being included at every stage of a process and receiving feedback on tasks increases student motivation and morale. Additionally, incorporating student feedback allows for flexibility in the way goals are accomplished; which ultimately promotes a growth culture in the workplace. So, what does this look like?
At the Scientific Organization Level (Plan/Implement/Assess/Modify)
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Student Representative
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Gives active voice for student needs and ideas to reach the Executive Board
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Student Committee
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Gives platform for students to develop programs for their peers in biomechanics across the country
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Student Chapters
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Gives ownership of biomechanics professional development to students at their own institutions
At the Institution/Department Level (Assess/Modify)
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Student government
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Each department should be represented
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Student rep can bring issues to the Provost and discuss solutions among peers
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Curriculum
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Regularly assess with students
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Is classroom content as relevant/applicable as possible?
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Program policy
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Regularly assess with students
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Is policy helpful/useful/widely upheld?
At the Research Lab/Team Level (Plan/Implement)
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Research
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Explain how students’ work fits into current/upcoming grant(s)
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Create room for exchange of new research ideas
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Training
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Regularly discuss training plan and objectives
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Allow students to train others
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Lab policy
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Collaborate on workplace policy
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Encourage students to embody lab virtues
Effective Communication
If you haven’t picked it up yet, communication is critical to student inclusion at all levels. Without effective communication deadlines start to be missed, there’s waning interest in the research topic, and failed mentoring relationships (Straus et al., 2013).
So, how do you do communicate effectively? Here are a couple tips:
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Find your best mode(s) and frequency of communication
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In-person, email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc.
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Mode may vary depending on the person and type of interaction
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Be willing to experiment and modify communication style
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Communication is an interactive and iterative process
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Be a scientist! If something did not work, learn from it, and try a new approach
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Remember: one communication failure does not lead to a failed relationship
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Mentors
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Mentees change and grow over time
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Some communication/teaching styles may not be effective at every stage of learning
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Be willing to adapt your mentoring and grow with your mentee
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Mentees
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It’s okay to have different views/opinions and discuss them with your mentor
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Try to see your mentor as a colleague you respect, not an authority you fear
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Mentors are helping you become an expert in your field of study!
In conclusion, students should be included at every level of scientific research. Practicing an inclusive leadership model and effective communication can help integrate students and keep pushing science forward through the next generation of scientists!
Information in this blog post was originally presented at the 2022 North American Congress on Biomechanics ‘Diversifying Your Workplace’ workshop. Resources related to this and other workshop topics can be found here: bit.ly/NACOBDEI
References
1. Hofstra B, Kulkarni VV, Munoz-Najar Galvez S, He B, Jurafsky D, McFarland DA. The Diversity-Innovation Paradox in Science. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;117(17):9284-9291. doi:10.1073/pnas.1915378117
2. Straus SE, Johnson MO, Marquez C, Feldman MD. Characteristics of successful and failed mentoring relationships: a qualitative study across two academic health centers. Acad Med. 2013;88(1):82-89. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31827647a0
![Photo of Kayla Seymore](https://www.intwomenbiomech.org/assets/07210/Photos_for_blog/Profile_pics/Kayla_Seymore.png)
Author: Kayla Seymore
![Photo of Evan Dooley](https://www.intwomenbiomech.org/assets/07210/Photos_for_blog/Profile_pics/Evan_Dooley.png)
Author: Evan Dooley
![Photo of Caitlin Banks](https://www.intwomenbiomech.org/assets/07210/Photos_for_blog/Profile_pics/Caitlin_Banks.png)
Author: Dr. Caitlin Banks