Evaluation Summary of the Biostartup Advice Simulation (Preliminary Results)

Online Simulation Increases Women Life Scientists’ Interest in Entrepreneurship

Using an online simulation about entrepreneurship resulted in around a quarter (27.3 % of 28) of women life scientists participating in an evaluation of the simulation, becoming more likely to start a business someday. This increase is important because few women start life science businesses (15.7% of start-ups in North America – Stefanuto, 2023), despite comprising nearly half (48%) of graduate students in the life sciences (Fry, Kennedy, Funk, 2021). The simulation aims to increase early-career women life scientists’ awareness of entrepreneurship as a potentially rewarding career option, improve their understanding of what it would take to successfully start a business, and increase their self-confidence, interest, and intention to start a business.

The simulation also succeeded in increasing most of the scientists’ intention to engage in activities that would support them in becoming entrepreneurs someday in the future, even if it is not something that interests them currently, and that are likely to support any life science career development, including:

• networking to advance their career (96.4%)
• seeking a mentor (92.8%)
• participating in organizations for women in the life sciences (85.7%).

I really liked the wealth of information available both on the website and through the simulations. There was no shortage of readings, articles, case studies, and opportunities to hear answers to a variety of questions.”

—Evaluation Participant

The simulation and website, BiostartupAdvice.com, represent the culmination of three years of research, writing, and technological development, by Clinical Tools, Inc. (CTI), creators of immersive online training for clinicians and scientists. After conducting a literature review and needs analysis via surveys and focus groups with women life scientists, CTI developed an online program to support women in overcoming obstacles, which included the need for strong networks of support and decreasing risk aversion through increased knowledge of business and finance and of available resources, The program presents an introductory, experiential overview of entrepreneurship via the simulation and provides links to brief articles on the accompanying website to dive deeper into areas of interest.

The simulations tell stories of women overcoming obstacles and facing risks commonly encountered in entrepreneurship.

Program Impact Highlights: Said one participant, “I really liked the wealth of information available both on the website and through the simulations. There was no shortage of readings, articles, case studies, and opportunities to hear answers to a variety of questions.” Many of the participants appreciated the simulated stories of women life scientists engaged in starting a business. Their comments included:

• “I appreciated how many stories of women life scientists were shared. It made the idea that I could start up a business feel more possible.”
• “I enjoyed the conversations that the simulation presented, and different people, each with their unique stories/backgrounds/careers.”
• “Exploring individuals at different stages of starting a business provided perspective on what you would need to achieve in each step in starting a business.”
• “I like the case examples on the website, which help me to think about the chance for young scientists to start a business.”

The experience improved several factors that would be supportive of scientists choosing to start a business. In a follow-up survey two weeks later, a majority of participants agreed that

• They felt confident about being able to find what they would need to start a business including:
  • information (90.9%)
  • support (86.3%)
  • resources (90.9%)
• The experience changed how they think about entrepreneurship options for women in life sciences 68.2%
• They felt more confident they could succeed if they started a business 63.6%.

The experience did increase the intention to start a business for some of the participating scientists. After the simulation, 27.3% agreed that they were more likely to start a business someday. However, most participants (63.6%) neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement. The latter result is not surprising since entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Most women life science graduate students have significant student debt alongside opportunities to obtain fairly well-paying jobs in industry. Biostartup Advice lays some groundwork and provides encouragement for those who might enjoy starting a business someday.

Program’s Details: In the simulation, users experience a day in the life of a woman life scientist early in her career who talks with peers in her lab about entrepreneurship. At the end of the day, she learns more by talking with a group of colleagues and successful entrepreneurs at a networking event at a local biotechnology center. A second interactive feature was a hybrid of brief simulated interactions with women entrepreneurs that illustrate the steps to starting a business, supplemented by key points, self-check surveys, interactive challenges, and brief articles on early entrepreneurship.

Evaluation of Program: A diverse group of 28 women life scientists at an early stage in their careers (26 graduate students, post-docs, or interns; a 4th-year undergraduate, and a worker in industry) recruited from programs across the United States used the program simulation and supportive materials and completed post-experience assessments. They represented a broad range of sciences including biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, cancer research, plant science, evolutionary biology, and food science. A majority (85.7%) had no experience with business start-ups and none had taken steps to found a start-up. The participants rated their agreement with whether they experienced various categories of change that were goals of the project in an online survey following the use of program materials for at least a half-hour.

Other Impacts. Completing the study resulted in a perceived change in the participants’ self-efficacy, intention, interest, beliefs, and knowledge regarding life science entrepreneurship and related topics for a majority of participants in nearly all areas measured (35/38 areas evaluated). Participants more often reported increases in measures for earlier stages of considering entrepreneurship than later stages.

• Over 75% of participants also reported increases in the following:
  • Confidence in:
    • “Learning how to start a business.” 96.4%
    • “Being able to make the right decision for me about starting a business.” 82.1%
  • Belief that:
    • “Women in the life sciences can successfully start businesses.” 82.1%
    • “There is a lot of help available for women life scientists who choose to start a business.” 82.1%
  • Knowledge of:
    • “Life science entrepreneurship in general.” 92.8%
    • “The skills or professional help needed to successfully start a business.” 89.3%
  • A strong majority of women agreed that:
    • “This experience would be useful if I wanted to start a business.” 96.4%
    • “If I wanted to start a business, I would be willing to work hard to help ensure its success.” 100%
  • Intent to:
    • “Attend industry networking events.” 85.7%
    • “Learn about opportunities for women-owned businesses.” 85.7%
    • “Create a network of support with other women scientists.” 85.7%

A majority of the women gave the program favorable ratings overall, including agreement with the following:

• “What I experienced was interesting.” 92%
• “I would refer BioStartupAdvice.com to women life scientists who are interested in business.” 92%
• “Overall, this was a useful experience.” 89.3%
• “BioStartup.Advice.com succeeded in inspiring women scientists to consider starting a business.” 82.1%

Evaluation of the Simulation Format

A majority of participants agreed that “The simulations and stories were an effective way of conveying the subject matter” 78.6%.

The simulations and stories directed participants to additional online content, providing more details they could explore according to their interests. The majority gave high ratings to the additional materials agreeing that:

• “The Key Points and Tips in Steps to a Start-up were interesting or useful.” 96.4%
• “The Challenges in Steps to a Start-up supported my learning more about entrepreneurship.” 89.3%
• A majority of those who read additional articles provided agreed that “The supplemental readings (e.g. “Read More”) were interesting or useful.” 87%
• A majority of those who completed “self-check” surveys agreed that “The Self-Check surveys were helpful in understanding myself better regarding entrepreneurship.” 84%

A majority of participants agreed they found it easy to learn how to play and navigate the simulation and stories. 92.8%

Clinical Tools thanks all the participants in the research that led to the development and testing of BiostartupAdvice.com.

About:

Development by Clinical Tools, Inc. was led by Mary Metcalf, PhD, MPH, and Karen Rossie, DDS, PhD with Nora Nelson acting as lead developer and Brad Tanner, MD, MBA providing business expertise.

Clinical Tools, based in Chapel Hill, NC, has won over 40 SBIR grants and several awards for use of interactive digital media in education and training, including Digital Health Awards, an International Serious Play award, recognition by SAMHSA, and the prestigious SBIR Tibbetts Award. The program was developed and evaluated with funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (award #R43GM131458).

References

Fry R, Kennedy B, Funk C. STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity. Pew Research Center Science & Society. April 1, 2021.

Stefanuto L. Only 15% of Tech Startup Founders Are Female. Startup Genome. March 27, 2023.