Show me the money! An empirical analysis of mentoring outcomes for women in academia

This paper discusses and comprehensively evaluates a mentoring scheme for junior female academics. The program aimed to address the under‐representation of women in senior positions by increasing participation in networks and improving women’s research performance. A multifaceted, longitudinal design, including a control group, was used to evaluate the success of mentoring in terms of the benefits for the women and for the university. The results indicate mentoring was very beneficial, showing that mentees were more likely to stay in the university, received more grant income and higher level of promotion, and had better perceptions of themselves as academics compared with non‐mentored female academics. This indicates that not only do women themselves benefit from mentoring but that universities can confidently implement well‐designed initiatives, knowing that they will receive a significant return on investment.     

Semantic and Phonological Ability to Adjust Recoding: A Unique Correlate of Word Reading Skill?

This study addresses whether reading involves a process termed semantic and phonological ability to adjust recoding (SPAAR). It was hypothesized that SPAAR helps readers link inaccurate pronunciations to lexical entries (e.g., spynitch to spinach). Psychometric properties of the Mispronunciation Correction Task (MCT), a measure of SPAAR, were investigated using a sample of 206 elementary-age children. The 25-item MCT appeared to measure a single construct, and the items discriminated well across the range of ability. Based on a sample of 94 children, construct validity analyses indicated that phonological awareness and decoding skill predicted MCT performance. Hierarchical regressions were used to test the relationship between SPAAR and word reading. After controlling for other skills, SPAAR showed a relationship with both timed and untimed word reading. Phonological awareness did not. These data suggest that SPAAR may be a reading-related ability involving phonological processing and some form of semantic processing.     

Innovation in PhD completion: the hardy shall succeed (and be happy!)

What is it that makes a PhD such a difficult process, and prevents candidates from completing on time? In this paper, we propose that self‐sabotaging behaviours, including overcommitting, procrastination and perfectionism, have a role to play. At Flinders University, we have developed a program in which we work with PhD students to help to reduce these behaviours and give them the strategies and attitudes they need to successfully (and happily!) complete their thesis. The program utilises cognitive–behavioural coaching, an evidence‐based strategy that we claim leads to significant and long‐term behavioural change. An evaluation of the program indicates that it is very successful, improving students’ ability to manage their time, set specific times for writing, and show work to their supervisor regularly, and that these behaviours were associated with lower levels of stress and improved ability to complete.