Translating the ‘Mastermind’ Concept from Business to Academia
Assistant Professors Danielle Levac (Bouvé), Emily Zimmerman (Bouvé), Kristen Allison (Bouvé), Abigail Koppes (ChE), Sarah Ostadabbas (ECE), Jessica Oakes (BioE), and Associate Professor Eno Ebong (ChE) were awarded a 2020 ADVANCE Mutual Mentoring Advancement Program (M2AP) Grant for “Translating the ‘Mastermind’ Concept from Business to Academia: Facilitating Peer mentorship among female PIs leading active research labs”. The interdisciplinary team is specifically addressing 2 gaps in STEM mentorship: 1) the need for non-hierarchical (junior – junior) mentorship outside of traditionally hierarchical (senior-junior) assigned faculty partnerships; and 2) the lack of support for women leading large, active research labs.
The group will address this challenge by developing and sustaining a Mastermind group model of peer-to-peer mentorship. The concept of Mastermind groups is based in the business and entrepreneurship world, offering unique benefits when translated into an academic context. A Mastermind group is designed to bring a small group of people together, with the goal of leveraging mutual support, inspiration, and insight to help each member achieve their personal and professional goals via group-based problem-solving.