They walked center-stage towards the podium, towards recognition for their respective achievements. Their names reverberated in the grand auditorium of the Chan Centre. What an auspicious moment to be honored here, at the recommencement of UBC’s graduation ceremony.
“Dr. De Vera’s science students describe her as a hands-on, supportive mentor and enthusiastic teacher, with a holistic mentoring style that recognizes each student’s needs,” Moura Quayle, UBC’s Vice-Provost extolled. “Dr. Harris exemplifies a uniquely empowering and inclusive mentorship style that supports the development of thoughtful, rigorous and productive researchers,” lauded Gage Averill, Provost and Vice President, Academic.
How exactly did Dr. Mary De Vera and Dr. Leila Harris reach this pinnacle of success in mentorship acknowledged by the conferral of the Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring?
Sasha McDowell, PhD Cand.
The LSI Life/Line’s EDI Columnist, Sasha McDowell, inquires.
Q: How did you come to do your work here at UBC?
Leila: I was trained as a socio-cultural and political geographer and obtained my PhD back in 2004. I taught at the University of Wisconsin for a little while before moving here to UBC. I’ve been here about eleven years now, with a cross-appointment to the Institute for Resources Environment and Sustainability (IRES) and the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice (GRSJ). My research focuses on environmental justice challenges, with particular interest in water insecurity and inequities.
Mary: I have been at UBC forever. I moved to Northern BC from the Philippines at the age of ten and it was always my dream to go to UBC. I did my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry here. I was the first person in my family to graduate from a university in Canada. For family and financial reasons, I stayed at UBC for both my Master’s and PhD in Health Care and Epidemiology. When I realized I wanted to pursue a career in academia at UBC, I decided to do my postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Montreal. After completion, I was able to move some funding to allow me to do another postdoc at UBC upon my return. I then became an assistant professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science in 2013.
At the start of my appointment, my research was focused on medication adherence and medication use in pregnancy, particularly in arthritis. However, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2016 and it was a defining moment for me. Having it at such a young age made me open up my research to colorectal cancer. I’m interested in questions concerning the various health impacts of cancer treatment that people don’t normally think about. I’d say it’s my passion side-project. As an epidemiologist, I look at data. I look at patterns of disease and I find the groups that are more likely to get the disease. After acquiring that data, you can get an idea of disease control in terms of treatment and prevention. It’s a family joke that it took a pandemic for them to finally understand what an epidemiologist does.
Q: What can students expect when joining your research group?
Leila: I focus on the relationship between us (as supervisor and mentee). I have a letter of expectations that students sign when they first join the research group (EDGES, edges.sites.olt.ubc.ca/) . It lays out what my expectations are in terms of communication and advocacy. The students also write out their motivations and goals for their program, and they are expected to report to me regularly and tell me how their work is progressing, when they’re having challenges, among other things. That letter of expectations was a suggestion made by a colleague years ago and I’m really happy that I took that on. She shared a version of her own letter which I then adapted. I also took a mentoring for diversity workshop at UBC years ago, which also emphasized setting expectations and clear pathways for communication early. It just makes intuitive sense to me that if you have similar expectations then it’s less likely for issues to arise.
Mary: One of the most important things I learned from my supervisor as a trainee was to be treated as a colleague. It goes along with the lifelong lesson of “treat others the way you’d like to be treated.” It sets up a collaborative relationship where decision-making is shared. It’s not me telling them what to do. It’s a discussion about how to approach situations together. It allows for conversations and open communication.
Q: Do you check in with your students often?
Leila: They communicate with me bi-weekly about what’s going on, what their progress is, what their timelines are and what their goals are. We have a conversation about semester goals at the beginning and end of each term. It’s more so for students to have that reflection and then they can have a meeting with me to discuss it. They often include both personal and professional goals in their goal setting and check-ins.
I try to prevent a situation arising where someone is avoiding me because they’re not doing well. I’m trying to get them to be honest about whatever challenges they have and to share them with me so that I can adjust my expectations accordingly. So that I’m not wondering ‘Where is that person?’ ‘Why haven’t they been in touch with me about their progress?’”
I had this one experience as a graduate student, which I always have in the back of my mind, and which I take pains to avoid with my own students. I was speaking with a supervisor and mentioned their student. The supervisor said, “Oh, are they still a student?” The supervisor had no idea that the student was even still on campus or in the program. I think there was mutual evasion between the supervisor and the student since the student wasn’t making progress. It happens. But that’s where you need to understand what those challenges are, whether professional or personal, as they often come together. I think a lot of students struggle with work-life balance and so I try to create a space where students can address the broader set of issues they face and what is enabling or impeding their progress.
Mary: I have a standing meeting every two weeks with each of them. We catch up on work and life. It’s been great for staying connected and so that no one falls through the cracks. I actually have one student in which we motivate each other to exercise, whether it’s via yoga or discussing our latest Apple watch exercise activity.
Q: Do you discuss career outcomes with your students?
Leila: That’s part of the document I mentioned earlier, too. Why are you doing your degree? For example, some may say, “I’m not necessarily going to stay in academia.” That’s fine, but I want to know so that we’re always on the same page.
Mary: From early on, I ask trainees, “What is your goal? What is the outcome of the degree for you?” I might get someone who wants to go into the pharmaceutical industry or someone who wants to get into academia, or even consulting. Based on that I know how to support them by connecting them with the right people. In pharmaceutical sciences we have a lot of partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and a lot of my students who have graduated went on to careers with these companies. I can connect lab alumni with current lab members if they’re curious about those kinds of roles.
Q: Are you supportive of professional development training?
Leila: Definitely. There is funding to support student engagement in conferences. We also take part in professional development within our department, as well as our lab group. We just brainstormed last week a list of topics we might want to discuss. So, in addition to our usual academic topics, such as sharing work in progress and meeting other scholars in our field, we have meetings about equitable publishing guidelines, ethical publishing and work-life balance, to name a few.
Mary: I encourage all of my trainees to go to conferences and we identify which are the best ones to attend for their research topic. I coordinate the professional development sessions for my faculty. I am big on teaching these skills that are not taught in courses. For example, we had a session on academic twitter as a form of science communication. The next session coming up is all about patents since it’s a huge part of what we do in the faculty of pharmaceutical sciences.
Q: What are the social aspects of your research group like?
Leila: Typically, during non-COVID times I’d host barbeques at my house every term. We also go hiking and do snow-shoeing trips. We’re planning our snow-shoeing trip right now. The main thing I’m trying to encourage is not just getting to know them, and they getting to know me, but rather the formation of a peer group. It’s so important that they know each other and support each other. I’ve seen how strong it can be and how important these types of activities are for their development and mutual support. For example, they may ask, “Could you edit this chapter for me because I’m about to submit my thesis on Wednesday?” They’re often each other’s best supporters and critics. Before they come to me, they usually go to each other. It is very important to enable a strong peer network among the group, and the social aspect is crucial for that.
Mary: When I was a trainee I was always on a social committee and even now in our research group I’m on the social committee. I just love parties. It’s just a Filipino thing—we love being surrounded by people. In the pandemic we have zoom coffee or wine nights. I like the fact that students are hanging out together, especially since I have students that aren’t local. I encourage forming organic friendships in the group so that they can support each other. Louise, my research coordinator since 2014 and an important member of my team, turned 60 in 2020 and the lab went dancing right before the pandemic. Yikes! We are dreaming of the day to go back to that, post-covid.
Q: Do you incorporate Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) practices?
Leila: We try to be explicit about EDI in research collaborations, authorship and other issues. We discuss diversity within our unit and talk about the data that has come out of our unit in terms of equity and inclusion. In the context of Black Lives Matter, we put together resources for people in our field such as better citational practices and to share research by BIPOC scholars.
About ninety percent of my students would be considered in one or more EDI category. I’m also explicit about supporting students from diverse backgrounds.
Mary: I think this is something I’ve always done before this term became a buzzword. I’m a woman, an immigrant and I have a rural background. So, I think it’s always been inherent when I recruit that I am mindful about giving opportunities to those who wouldn’t have them otherwise.
One thing I am focusing a lot more on is EDI within the research, which I haven’t done before. One of my PhD students has a project specifically on EDI. Studies for which I’ve recruited before in the past, usually involved participants who were majority white or came from high socio-economic backgrounds. Now we’re looking at how to recruit underrepresented communities for studies. We realized that some of the big datasets lack a lot of information on gender, which is something that we’re investigating.
We’re also taking advantage of the diversity we have in our lab. For example, Louise is francophone and so we are trying to do studies in English and French. It’s a start. We recently did a study in cancer that we were able to translate in English, French, Spanish and Mandarin. Since I speak Tagalog and I have colleagues that speak Punjabi, I wonder whether we can use the networks we have to make our research more inclusive, moving forward.
Q: Did you have a mentor who inspired you?
Leila: I’m quite different from my mentors but there are some aspects I’ve picked up. I had a couple key mentors who really supported me and advocated for me. I think they do stick in my mind as the way I want to advocate for my students. They also just let me do my work and were very hands-off. I think I try to emulate that in the sense that if you attract bright students and let them do their work, they’ll do it, and they’ll do well. You won’t have to manage them. Previous mentors also recommended me for things and gave me self-confidence to apply for things—this is also something I aim to do with my students. I think I’m a lot more collaborative and engaged than many of my own mentors were. I think I tend to inquire more about how things are going and try to be a little more involved. I also work more directly with students on co-authored work, and on larger collaborative projects—this is still not as common in the social sciences and humanities but something I am doing more and more of.
Mary: My PhD supervisor is a mentor who inspires me. He always treated me as a colleague and there was mutual respect. He’s one of the most influential people in my life. He’s still the first person that I go to for advice. He’s a colleague and a friend. Similarly, I have students that have graduated and it’s still easy to be in touch with them.
I have been fortunate to have mentors who at a quick notice do not hesitate to share advice and wisdom. I just had a meeting with one of my female mentors. I’m in the middle of a decision about future opportunities to pursue. I’m wondering if my hesitancy is due to imposter syndrome or how to handle the work and home balance so, I sought her advice as a woman who has had a similar prior experience.
Q: Any closing remarks or words of inspiration for research group leaders?
Leila: I would encourage research groups to have explicit conversations about issues that matter to them, whether this be authorship guidelines, or EDI issues in their field. I also encourage mentors to be part of those conversations, but also to allow space for students to discuss those issues amongst themselves as well. Creating a culture of collaboration and support, rather than competition is critical. In the end, the best advice I can give is to find ways to support students to achieve their goals, whatever they may be. Research will be part of this, but it is not the only thing that we need to focus on. Nominating students for awards and supporting them to have strong applications for funding is also a key part of what we must do as mentors. It takes time to do well, but it is worth it.
Mary: It was instilled early on in my training that “moving science forward is not just about the research you’ll do; it is also in training those who will keep moving science forward”. This is a motivator for everything that I do.