Beronda Montgomery will present the Mentoring Keynote at Cell Bio Virtual 2021. Montgomery is the Michigan State University Foundation Professor and Assistant Vice President for Research & Innovation at Michigan State University (MSU). She is a member of the faculty of the MSU Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics.
In a video interview earlier this year for Point Reyes Books, Montgomery pointed out that if a plant in our care fails to thrive, we seek to remedy the conditions that impede that growth or we seek to improve our own skills as caretakers. However, with our fellow humans, for some reason, we take a “deficit perspective.”
“If you don’t expect that a human in your space should grow, you assume that anything they do that does not come out the way that you expected is because there is something wrong with them.” Montgomery said.
“My scholarship extends beyond biology and into studying mentorship, faculty development, and academic leadership to develop evidence-based strategies to foster equity and inclusion in academia,” Montgomery wrote to ASCB.
About the Author:
Mary Spiro is ASCB's Strategic Communications Manager.
