Insight Study of USAID's PEER Program: Mentoring the Next Generation of Global Researchers

The USAID’s Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) provides financial research grants to researchers in USAID partner countries. This workshop project is a retrospective insight study of the inclusion of students as research assistants and co-investigators on PEER Research teams since 2011. The survey data from 84 Principal Investigators (PIs) and 22 Student Researchers revealed that female PIs, particularly those in the Women in Science Mentoring Program, tended to build larger teams and were motivated by a desire to develop talent. A significant percentage of male PIs felt unable to enact changes that could facilitate a more gender diverse workplace. Interestingly, female student researchers were perceived to be more engaged in high-level analytical work compared to their male counterparts. The SIPA team recommends that Students and PIs could benefit from cross-country collaborative activities like knowledge exchange programs, conferences and seminars, need-mapping exercise and DEI activities.