Validation of a Scale for Mentoring Practices Specific to Scientific Communication among Trainees

Scientific communication skills are critical to success in research science. Mentoring trainees, from undergraduate to postdoctoral and even junior faculty levels, has become an important research focus for transferring these skills. Our group has developed the Mentoring Practices Scale to assess mentoring behaviors toward trainees in the domains of general research (technical career, psychosocial) and scientific communication (writing, oral presentations, impromptu speaking/conversations about science and research). However, this scale, especially the Mentoring Practices Scale in Scientific Communication (MPS-SciComm), has not been assessed in trainee samples to determine whether the scale is reliable and valid. The purpose of the current study was to test the three factors of the scientific communication component of the scale among doctoral and postdoctoral trainees. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on data from two samples of trainees (N₁ = 510, and N₂ = 185), and results verified the 3-factor structure. The 12-item MPS-SciComm demonstrated good internal consistency for each factor in both trainee samples. Scores were positively correlated with the variables self-efficacy and outcome expectations for scientific communication, as defined in social cognitive career theory, which have been predictive of trainees' research career intentions. Our findings suggest that the MPS-SciComm is a useful, reliable, and valid tool for measuring trainee perceptions of mentoring behaviors in scientific communication.