Pervasiveness and Impact of Single-Day Episodes of Harassment, Microaggression, and Incivility of Biomedical Health Trainees

Abstract

The biomedical workforce needs the talents and insights of people from all cross-sections of identity to advance scientific discovery and to improve research application. To build and sustain this workforce, trainees must be treated with respect and support. We assessed the prevalence of daily experiences of harassment, racial mistreatment, and incivility by conducting a national survey of NIH funded graduate students (n=249) and post-doctoral fellows (n=148). Our findings suggest there is an alarming prevalence of mistreatment within research training environments. Our random sampling of F30, F31, F32, and K99 recipients suggests that as many as 45% of graduate students and postdoctoral trainees experience or observe at least one form of mistreatment on any given day, with incivility being the most reported experience. Furthermore, we found that mistreatment experiences and observations were significantly associated with negative program attitudes, indicating a potential risk for attrition among trainees. Moreover, the prevalence of mistreatment was consistent across gender and racial identities. These findings underscore the urgent need for interventions to address mistreatment in research training environments. This study is the first to report empirical data from the trainee perspective on the prevalence and impact of single-day mistreatment in biomedically relevant training programs. Our research is important for understanding the underpinnings of the mentor-mentee and peer-peer interactions responsible for the prevalence of negative environments, as well as highlighting where interventions are necessary to develop supportive leadership and lab culture practices that will improve career outcomes for participants in these fields.