Oceanography | Vol. 38, No. 3
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scientists can also apply to be guest speakers at Goddard Space
Flight Center or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory through a NASA
speaker series facilitated by MPOWIR. The visit is multiple days
long with an opportunity to give a seminar and meet formally with
many NASA scientists.
Since 2022, MPOWIR has collaborated with the University of
Wisconsin’s Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences
in Research (CIMER) to integrate evidence-based mentorship
education and resources into MPOWIR activities. Participants are
introduced to the science of mentorship (NASEM, 2019), opportu-
nities and challenges of group mentorship, framework for mentor-
ship discussions (Pfund et al., 2016), and a set of evidence-based
tools they can use to align expectations for their mentoring rela-
tionships. Other topics covered through mentorship education
include building career self-efficacy (Butz et al., 2018), foster-
ing independence and addressing equity and inclusion. A con-
densed version of MPOWIR’s mentoring curriculum is also
offered to senior leaders at the Pattullo and Virtual Conferences.
Specific skills that mentors develop in association with MPOWIR
include a broader capacity to empathize, listen, relate, and under-
stand others. They also learn to be culturally responsive mentors.
As more well-trained mentors move into leadership roles, institu-
tional- and community-wide change can evolve more quickly.
A steering committee that includes gender-diverse individuals
in physical oceanography oversees the design and implementation
of MPOWIR activities. These individuals represent different career
stages, job sectors, backgrounds, and experiences. New committee
members are identified through open nomination and community
feedback processes, and they serve for three years.
Figure 1 illustrates MPOWIR’s framework of mentoring and
support. Based on prior literature (NASEM, 2019) and sur-
veys (Thompson et al., 2011; Mouw et al., 2018) conducted by
MPOWIR between 2008 and 2023, the figure includes several
stressors, such as lack of access to women mentors, geographic iso-
lation, lack of resources, harassment, and caregiving responsibili-
ties that women+ in physical oceanography face. Since its incep-
tion, MPOWIR has engaged over 440 early career participants and
senior leaders in physical oceanography to address some of these
challenges and provide mentorship and support to women+.
IMPACT OF MPOWIR ON SENIOR LEADERS
IN PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
MPOWIR measures its activities’ effectiveness, benefits, and
impact via periodic interviews and surveys of its participants (both
early-stage oceanographers and senior leaders). MPOWIR men-
tors anecdotally find mentoring others to be a mutually beneficial
process that allows them to continue building their professional
skills and networks. In addition, past mentees who continue their
oceanographic careers have reached leadership positions outside
of MPOWIR and now serve as role models and mentors for their
peers and early-career scientists.
METHODS
To assess MPOWIR’s impact on senior leaders, we employed
a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys and semi-
structured interviews (see the survey questions in the online sup-
plementary materials) with senior leaders affiliated with the pro-
gram. Surveys were distributed to 270 senior leaders, including
steering committee members, past/present mentors, and leaders at
Pattullo and Virtual conferences who had engaged with MPOWIR
since 2005. Eighty-seven leaders responded to the survey, which
was administered anonymously via Qualtrics, with reminders sent
at three weeks after the initial survey distribution. Survey ques-
tions focused on how leadership with MPOWIR impacted their
overall mentorship, benefits unique to mentorship with MPOWIR,
and challenges associated with mentorship. Twenty senior leaders
(purposely selected to represent diversity in gender, career
stage, and employment sector) participated in hour-long semi-
structured Zoom interviews conducted by the MPOWIR leader-
ship team, including authors Behl, Clem, and Mouw. Members of
the author team were also included in the interview sample; their
responses were anonymized in the analysis to mitigate bias. During
these interviews, participants were asked to share their experiences
around the following five questions:
1. What are the personal and professional outcomes of partici-
pating as an MPOWIR leader?
2. Are there any unexpected outcomes?
3. How did participation in MPOWIR impact your mentorship
style?
4. Are there aspects of leadership within MPOWIR that provide
a unique experience?
5. Are there examples of how your MPOWIR leadership has
shifted the culture in some way (in your lab, working group,
institution, professional society, etc.)?
Survey data were analyzed descriptively (e.g., percentage
of respondents reporting specific benefits) and via thematic
coding of open-ended responses. The data collected for this
study were anonymous and did not involve sensitive or identi-
fiable information. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval
was deemed unnecessary for this study (by one of the authors’
institution’s IRB); nonetheless, the study adhered to ethical
guidelines, including ensuring participant confidentiality and
voluntary participation.
In the following paragraphs, we highlight the benefits senior
leaders have identified as resulting from MPOWIR’s mentorship
framework. While these benefits—spanning individual, institu-
tional, and community levels—are well documented in broader
STEM mentoring literature (Pfund et al., 2016; NASEM, 2019),
they remain underexplored in the specific context of oceanogra-
phy, where interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge transfer
are critical (Figure 2). We also highlight challenges senior leaders
face as they navigate mentoring relationships with their mentees.
Senior leaders who have served as MPOWIR mentors’ reported
benefits, such as a greater sense of belonging, increased awareness