Oceanography | Vol. 38, No. 3
58
Oceanography | Vol. 38, No. 3
58
ADVANCING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
AND DIVERSITY
The lessons learned via MPOWIR mentoring and training carry over
to home institutions. Senior leaders report shifts in their perceptions
of their home institutions in terms of mentoring support (e.g., per-
ceived strengths and weaknesses), changes in how they work with
their home institutions (e.g., whom to involve—who are the stake-
holders), increased confidence in suggesting changes in the way an
institution assists with mentoring professional development, initiat-
ing mentoring programs at their home institutions, and even how an
individual might interact with lab mates. Collectively, these initiatives
institute cultural changes across many organizational types (academic,
nonprofit, government, industry), across levels within organizations,
and over a diverse set of geographical locations. This widespread dis-
semination of new knowledge gained through mentoring advances
diversity in our field and at our institutions.
APPLICATIONS EXTEND TO PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Developing mentorship skills helps to improve listening, enhances
patience and empathy, allows people to see things from alternative
perspectives, shifts mentors to a more positive and flexible mindset,
and acts in the service of others, among many other benefits. While
these expanded skills help improve professional mentoring rela-
tionships, they undoubtedly also translate to personal relationships.
Improvements in one aspect of our responsibilities directly and holis-
tically impact our entire being. The individual benefits of mentorship,
such as an increased sense of belonging, improved self-efficacy, and
reduced isolation, can improve overall work satisfaction and reduce
stress. The authors speculate that nearly everyone has the experience
of bringing stress and dissatisfaction home from work and has seen
the negative impact it can have. Thus, reducing job dissatisfaction
and stress has the potential impact of improving interpersonal rela-
tionships. Further, expanded mentoring skills are invoked in relating
to our children, parents, domestic partners, friends, and neighbors,
improving our interactions with others and resulting in healthier and
deeper personal relationships.
CONCLUSIONS
Gender parity in oceanography is essential for several reasons, includ-
ing the inclusion of diverse perspectives on a wide range of ocean-
ographic issues, improved problem-solving and decision-making,
increased public engagement, and promotion of social justice and
equity. One way the physical oceanography community is advancing
gender parity is through the MPOWIR program. By cultivating men-
toring relationships between senior leaders and early-career ocean-
ographers through a variety of activities, MPOWIR enables far more
open, deep, and intimate relationships between mentors and mentees.
This authenticity fosters trust and deepens connections and growth
opportunities for both mentee and mentor. Senior leaders serving as
mentors grow in their understanding of the challenges that mentees
face and in building their own leadership and mentoring skills through
training with CIMER and engaging in MPOWIR’s activities. Leaders
CALL TO ACTION
Until recently, MPOWIR’s success has relied on sus-
tained federal agency funding and the dedicated vol-
untary efforts of the physical oceanography commu-
nity. Moving forward, ensuring MPOWIR’s long-term
success will require collective action—increased col-
laboration, advocacy, and investment from all stake-
holders in oceanographic research. To achieve gen-
der parity in oceanography and related disciplines,
organizations and institutions need to develop men-
tors who are career investors (Abel et al., 2024).
There is a pressing need to strengthen mentorship
support in oceanography, particularly in academia,
where professional development opportunities are
often more limited compared to industry or govern-
ment sectors with robust training programs (NASEM,
2019). Mentoring and mentoring training are under-
valued at many academic institutions because they
are perceived as detracting from research productiv-
ity, which is often more heavily weighted in promo-
tion and tenure decisions. Unfortunately, only 48%
of undergraduate faculty report that their institutions
take mentoring into account during performance
reviews (NASEM, 2019). As shown in Figure 3, at least
in the near term, research productivity is not typi-
cally helped by mentoring, with only about one-third
of respondents showing any benefit of mentoring to
research productivity at any level. Thus, researchers
may see mentoring as competing with their primary
job functions, which leads to less mentoring engage-
ment. But clearly, as outlined in this article, mentoring
can lead to long-term benefits to an organization even
when the activity may not have direct short-term ben-
efits (e.g., loss of employee work time on research).
Institutions and organizations should prioritize men-
toring and explicitly recognize its value as a strategic
investment in sustaining and developing their work-
forces. By implementing clear initiatives and incen-
tives, they can effectively communicate to employees
that mentoring is essential for long-term organiza-
tional success and professional growth. First, as rec-
ommended in the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine report on effective
mentorship in STEMM (NASEM, 2019), organizations
should make mentoring part of performance evalua-
tion criteria so that employees who engage in men-
toring (internal or external to the organization) are
recognized for making valuable contributions to the
organization. Second, mentoring excellence should
be publicly recognized in a manner that is compara-
ble to the recognition given for teaching effectiveness
(NASEM, 2019). Finally, organizations can include
budget line items that provide financial support for
employees to obtain mentoring and leadership train-
ing. Mentoring strengthens relationships, enhances
career development, and builds a culture of collab-
oration and support. As demonstrated by MPOWIR,
sustained investment in mentoring programs can lead
to a culture change, driving more diversity, equity, and
inclusion in STEM fields.