The Asian Neuropsychological Association (ANA) Education Committee seeks to counter the underrepresentation of individuals of Asian American, Native Hawaian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) descent, and/or interested in working with these populations, in neuropsychology by providing education and mentorship to the next generation of neuropsychologists.

Since October 2021, the program has matched mentors and mentees based on interests and goals, including professional development, clinical skills, issues related to identity and intersectionality, cultural competencies/awareness for Asian-language assessments, social justice, and research. They discuss goals, communication method, frequency, duration of the relationship, and other expectations at the outset.

76 mentees and 29 mentors have applied to the program. The program has successfully paired 46 mentee/mentors, with 40 active pairings currently. Mentees and mentors have the option to continue relationship past the initial 1-year. 48% have extended their mentorship relationship.

Recruitment is ongoing.

We conduct surveys quarterly. The latest 3, 6, and 12 month results indicated 77.4%, 71.7% & 76% of respondents were satisfied/very satisfied.

Qualitative evaluation:

“I feel it is a good program and having regular feedback is useful. Unlike other mentorship programs, there is flexibility in terms of goals setting as would be appropriate to the mentee interest and current training level.”

“I was very surprised by the amount of support I have received thus far by my mentor. She has been very responsive to all my communications!”

“Very grateful for this program for connecting me to my wonderful mentor”

“This has been a god-send opportunity.”

“Mentorship program has been amazing! I wish I was able to receive this earlier in graduate school.”

“I enjoy helping with mentees who are students of color and/or international students”

“I've really enjoyed having my mentor and feel incredibly supported by her. She is readily available via email and has been huge throughout internship.

“My mentor has been extremely helpful, especially when I have needed to make important training decisions and also advocate for myself. I am very pleased with the mentorship program!”

The ANA mentorship program has received predominantly positive feedback from both mentees and mentors. Most mentees describe satisfactory relationships with their mentors and/or having attained their mentorship goals.

The ANA mentorship program strives to foster a pipeline of neuropsychologists of AANHPI descent, and/or those interested in working with AANHPI populations, through mentorship and networking and to develop competence in neuropsychological services to persons of Asian descent.

While the program was initially developed to meet the mentorship needs of students and trainees, based on survey results, the program has    expanded to include professionals interested in seeking mentorship in board certification, research, and/or general professional development from peers more advanced in their careers.

The ANA Education Committee’s mentorship program currently has more mentees than mentors, resulting in at least xx mentee being unmatched. Thus, more mentor volunteers are needed.  To address this issue, the ANA mentorship program has sent out periodic emails to call for more ANA mentors.

There remains a dire need for specialized mentorship in neuropsychology for underrepresented trainees and professionals from those who may share common lived experiences and backgrounds. We plan to continue serving our ANA community through the Mentorship Program.