In partnership with the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the Rutgers University Center for Effective School Practices director Dr. Cynthia Blitz is serving as co-PI on an "Investigation of Professional Coaching as an Intervention to Support the Success of Underrepresented Biomedical Ph.D. Students," coined BEACON. Unlike mentoring and advising, professional coaching involves a collaborative process that helps students enhance strategies, broaden perspectives, and receive feedback to maximize their potential. This study will rigorously test the effects of coaching on short-, medium-, and long-term academic outcomes of professional coaching on biomedical PhD students for the first time. 

The Center will lead the qualitative and ethnographic research components of the grant, collecting data to understand the mechanisms that contribute to outcomes of professional coaching, for what students, and under what conditions. The CESP team will conduct interviews and observations to provide rich qualitative context to the study and work alongside study team members to broadly disseminate findings to various communities through publications and presentations. This project runs from 2023 through 2027 with funding from the National Institutes of Health