Stressed-Out of STEM: Examining Mentoring Experiences of Women, People of Color, and International Postdocs

Abstract This narrative study examined the mentor-mentee relationship from the positioning of 31 minoritized STEM postdocs at a research-intensive institution. Seeking to enhance the current body of literature on mentoring and minoritized STEM postdocs to encourage institutions to adopt culturally responsive practices and cultivate sustainable research environments, the researchers conducted individual, in-depth interviews with women, people of color, and international postdocs who spanned 17 different STEM departments at a large, research-intensive university in the southeast United States. Using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis, findings revealed four themes: (1.1) Postdocs’ observations of faculty roles, responsibilities, and leadership styles influenced their decisions to pursue or depart a career path to academia; (1.2) postdocs cited poor communication from mentors and misaligned position expectations versus realities as major challenges; (1.3) postdocs described few productive exchanges and felt many exchanges directly benefited mentors; and (1.4) postdocs observed and experienced mentors’ mistreatment of minoritized postdocs (i.e., women, people of color, and individuals with international status).