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Growing Healthy Labs
Version 2 2020-07-16, 20:52
Version 1 2020-07-16, 14:54
presentation
posted on 2020-07-16, 20:52 authored by Christine ChenChristine ChenSlides for the Growing Healthy Labs workshop held at the Department of Geosciences of Princeton University in May 2019. Created and facilitated by Christine Y. Chen. Google Slides version can be accessed via https://bit.ly/GrowingHealthyLabs.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
A healthy work environment is fundamental to good science, but we rarely discuss strategies for how to create and maintain one. Despite measurable and empirically-supported benefits associated with effective leadership, management, and mentorship for both advisors and trainees, most faculty are rarely trained in these skills. As a result, academic teams can lose time to unproductive interpersonal issues, lack of motivation, and unnecessary conflict. These problems can lead to high costs in terms of money, productivity, mental health, and retention of talent, and often disproportionally impact students from groups underrepresented in STEM fields.
In response, [SPONSORING ORGANIZATION] is pleased to offer a workshop on effective lab and personnel management for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. The goal of this workshop is to help future principal investigators (PIs) become more effective at managing their research groups and creating inclusive spaces that develop excellent science and scientists.
SLIDES DESCRIPTION
There are 91 slides in total. The table of contents is as follows:
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
A healthy work environment is fundamental to good science, but we rarely discuss strategies for how to create and maintain one. Despite measurable and empirically-supported benefits associated with effective leadership, management, and mentorship for both advisors and trainees, most faculty are rarely trained in these skills. As a result, academic teams can lose time to unproductive interpersonal issues, lack of motivation, and unnecessary conflict. These problems can lead to high costs in terms of money, productivity, mental health, and retention of talent, and often disproportionally impact students from groups underrepresented in STEM fields.
In response, [SPONSORING ORGANIZATION] is pleased to offer a workshop on effective lab and personnel management for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. The goal of this workshop is to help future principal investigators (PIs) become more effective at managing their research groups and creating inclusive spaces that develop excellent science and scientists.
In this workshop, participants will
- learn about recent research on the impact of leadership and lab culture on productivity and overall group well-being
- consider and discuss common evidence-based "best practice" strategies for effective personnel management
- share ideas and practice strategies for good supervision of trainees with other participants
- leave with additional resources for future self-education and formal training
There are 91 slides in total. The table of contents is as follows:
• Introduction — Why is this important? [Slides 3-18]
• Workshop Objectives, Agenda, & Icebreaker [Slides 19-26]
• Active Role Play Activity: Advisor-Advisee Meeting [Slides 27-37], using a modified version of a role play designed by the National Center for Professional & Research Ethics
• Strategies for Communicating Expectations [Slides 38-58]
• Psychological Safety — What is it? Do you experience it? [Slides 59-64]
• Conflict — What is it and why should we embrace it? [Slides 65-77]
• Active Listening — small group discussion [Slides 78-85]
• Further Resources for Self-Education [Slides 86-93]
• Parting Words [Slide 94]
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Christine Y. Chen is a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at Caltech. She completed her PhD in Geology from MIT in 2019. While at MIT, she served as a graduate student mediator through the Resources for Easing Friction and Stress (REFS) program at MIT, in which students provide low barrier, informal, confidential services to their peers in conflict management. In this capacity, she underwent extensive training in conflict management and mediation through the Conflict Management@MIT program and has created and facilitated workshops on creating healthy research environments in academia. For her dedication to empowering her fellow students to develop as leaders and being an active mentor and coach to peers within the MIT community, she was awarded the MIT Larry G. Benedict Leadership Institute Award in 2019. When she isn't agonizing over the state of the world, Christine can be found pouring over tufa deposits as part of her geological research studying ancient lake basins in the western United States and central Andes.
