It is never too early to start making your lab an inclusive and safe space, and all the better if it happens from the outset of you starting your lab. Integral to having a productive career and lab is having a sense of balance and feeling like you and your mentees are all collectively working towards common goals. To do this requires a fair bit of culture-setting and reinforcement in both overt and subtle ways to center the experience of the students in the lab. I provide some examples from my own lab. Often more important than the quantity of work by you or your mentees is working more efficiently to accomplish what you need to in less time, and dedicating the extra time to activities that build a sense of camaraderie among your lab. Some other key concepts are open, honest, and frequent communication with your mentees, as well as ensuring your students and yourself stick to firm boundaries to preserve work-life balance and everyone's mental health. Moreover, one should be asking one's self whether each action is supporting the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and if it does not, one should figure out how to adapt one's actions appropriately. Research is challenging, but it should not be traumatizing. A lab that works collectively with shared purpose, understanding, and experiences is happier, more productive, and will lift everyone's career up.
