Support of Underrepresented and Early-Stage Faculty at a Research Center for Minority Institutions: A Social Network Analysis of Research Productivity over a Five-Year Period

This study describes how an innovative form of support strengthened diversity goals in an institution of higher learning. The Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative (SHERC) at Northern Arizona University recently completed its first funding cycle supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. This study examines progress on two of SHERC’s principal goals: support the expansion of health equity research produced by SHERC-affiliated faculty and advance early-stage investigators (ESI) and underrepresented (UR) faculty research productivity. SHERC-affiliated faculty publications are described and the focus of a series of social network analyses (SNA). SHERC-affiliated faculty had access to an array of professional development opportunities. The number of supported faculty increased from 32 to 100 with a growing percentage of ESI and UR faculty. The number of UR and ESI faculty authors increased most rapidly over time. ESI and UR SHERC-affiliated faculty were co-authors in 72% and 45%, respectively, of the 139 total publications in the 5-year publication record. SNA centrality metrics revealed the important influence of ESI and UR faculty in the demonstrated increases in research publications over time. The increase of health-equity related research publications and concomitant expansion of ESI and UR faculty participation in these efforts can be facilitated by coordinated types of support offered by faculty development programs such as SHERC. The results from this study reinforce the importance of networks in organizational change efforts at institutions of higher learning seeking to build research capacity and increase scientific and community impact by advancing workforce diversity.