Zeitschrift für klinische und experimentelle Onkologie

Developing Research Networks to Enhance Cross-Mentoring and Representation of Women in Clinical and Experimental Oncology

Gillian Bowser, Katherine Wilkins, Ulrike Gretzel, Elizabeth Davis and Mark A. Brown

Developing Research Networks to Enhance Cross-Mentoring and Representation of Women in Clinical and Experimental Oncology

Mentoring the next generation of oncology researchers is essential for ensuring the development of 21st century cancer therapeutics. The failure of universities and research centers to recruit and retain women in the technological disciplines supporting experimental oncology represents a major limitation in the sustainability of the current pipeline for translational oncology. The Global Women Scholars Network recently launched an initiative to implement and evaluate a social recommender system to enhance crossmentoring of women in the sciences. In doing so, we explore the untested hypothesis that social network recommender systems are an effective way to address the lingering gap between women and men in the sciences.