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1. Individual Development Plan, Mentoring Support, and Career Optimism among STEM Graduate Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

   Chang, C. N.; Saw, G. K. (April 2021, 2021 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting)

   null (Ed.)

   The COVID-19 outbreak has severely affected graduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. It disrupted the learning and career development including in-person laboratory research activities and mentoring meetings. Since early 2000s, STEM graduate schools have been promoting the use of individual development plans (IDPs), which provide formalized mentorship, to support graduate students' academic and career success. It is unclear whether and to what extent the IDPs play a role in promoting mentoring and career-relevant outcomes among students during the crisis. This study presents some of the first evidence on the interrelationships of IDP status, mentoring support and satisfaction, and career attitudes with a diverse nationwide sample of STEM graduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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2. Individual Development Plans, your strengths, your career, and your professional identity

   Kuniyoshi, C.Y. (January 2021, 2929 SACNAS The National Diversity in STEM Virtual Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   Individual Development Plans (IDPs) have been used to support the career and professional development of graduate students across disciplines. This interactive session focuses on how IDPs can help you build your skills, form your professional identity, and take control of your career through an iterative process of self‐assessment, career exploration, decision making and goal setting. To provide an introduction to the IDP process attendees will be able to take a self‐assessment to learn about their particular strengths and begin to target their strengths toward their professional goals. Additionally a co‐developer and researcher of IDP platforms will highlight the aspects that can help your IDP be more effective than others. 

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3. Demonstrated Value of Individual Development Plans to Participating Academic Trainees and Their Mentors

   https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd24.2024.17099  

   Bruno, Barbara C; Ishii, Hope A; Caplan, Caroline E; Vidwans, Abhay; Gillis_Davis, Jeffrey J (June 2024, Universitat Politècnica de València)

   An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a personal action plan. IDPs can be used to set academic goals, explore career opportunities, and develop skills. During the 2022-23 academic year, we implemented IDPs with two groups in university settings: (1) graduate students and post-docs in the NASA-funded ICE-Five-O project; and (2) undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Hawai‘i. Twenty-four participants and their mentors rated various aspects of the IDP program on a scale of 1 (negative) to 5 (positive). Results were strongly positive, with means ranging from 4.1 to 4.8 for participants and from 4.2 to 4.6 for mentors. Overall, 92% of participants reported that they would recommend IDPs to their peers, and 94% of mentors reported that they would recommend IDPs as a mentoring tool. Although relatively few people (15%, or 31 of 207 eligible trainees) opted to participate, results of the pilot clearly show that those who created an IDP found the experience valuable. Future efforts will focus on maximizing participation. 

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4. Exploring Servingness for Low-Income Academically Talented Students (LIATS) Through Individual Development Plans (IDPs)

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343399  

   del_Puerto, Carla López; Jimenez, Manuel; Santiago, Nayda G; Quintero, Pedro; Bartolomei-Suárez, Sonia; Guillemard, Luisa; Suárez, Oscar Marcelo; Cardona-Martínez, Nelson; Santiago-Román, Aidsa (October 2023, IEEE)

   This paper analyzes, from a servingness perspective, the experiences of students in a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) implementing personalized mentoring strategies as part of an NSF-funded, S-STEM program. The program objective was to increase the retention and success of low-income academically talented students. We discuss the results of using Individual Development Plans (IDP) to help students establish post-graduation goals and action plans to reach them. The IDPs also maintained a flexible structure that allowed students for morphing both their plans and envisioned outcomes, as they progressed in their chosen academic programs. Student outcome expectations were assessed at three stages of their development: in their first year, as juniors in what can be considered a mid-point of their development, and during their fourth year of program participation. 

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5. The use of the individual development plan at minority serving institutions

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1258273  

   Chang, Chi-Ning; Justus-Smith, Cammie; Malagon-Palacios, Laura J.; Hui, John (November 2023, Frontiers in Education)

   The Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a common mentoring tool in higher education. Students and postdoctoral researchers can use an IDP to facilitate conversations with their mentors and create action plans to support future goals. The entire process helps mentees achieve both short- and long-term objectives. Little is known about how historically underrepresented minority groups are supported during this process. This study investigated IDP implementation at 504 minority serving institutions (MSIs) that primarily serve African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Native-American populations. Using content analysis, we systematically reviewed the publicly available IDP tools and policies at each MSI. Although several crucial mentoring components and implementation strategies were identified, there was a noticeable absence of emphasis on multicultural mentoring guidance and psychosocial support throughout the process. Our findings offer decision-makers and faculty mentors insights into supporting minority trainees and lay the foundation for future research in the field of IDPs. 

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