The Effects of Good Mentoring

Mentors take an interest in developing another person's career and well-being, and helping them advance their academic and professional goals. It's a broader role than just being a supervisor or a boss, as the mentee's own professional growth is key. Mentoring is tailored to the individual, and depends on the mentee's experience, preparation, goals, identity, learning preferences and cultural background, among other factors.

One multifaceted definition of mentors includes those who:

• take an interest in developing another person’s career and well-being.
• have an interpersonal as well as a professional relationship with those whom they mentor.
• advance specific academic and professional goals tailored to the career aspirations of the mentee.
• tailor mentoring styles and content to the individual, including adjustments due to differences in culture, ethnicity, gender, learning style and so on.

Not all mentors are advisors—graduate students and postdocs should develop a network of mentors that could be other professors, people in related industries, family, friends, etc. Conversely, not all advisors are mentors—some advisors focus their relationship with their graduate students and postdocs solely around supervision of research rather than true mentorship.

Why be a mentor rather than just an advisor?

First, your mentees will benefit. Research shows that having an effective mentor correlates with

• graduate program completion
• persistence
• increased research productivity
• higher career satisfaction
• enhanced feelings of self-efficacy
• increased recruitment and retention of members of underrepresented groups

Second, you will benefit. Mentorship comprises a large part of faculty time, and many faculty members describe fostering the success of their mentees as one of the most rewarding aspects of their careers.

Most faculty members get little or no formal training as mentors, and develop their mentoring strategies by following examples (good or bad) set by others, and by trial and error. Many faculty members don't explicitly think about effective mentorship, but expect mentoring relationships to evolve naturally. Sometimes they do, but a mentoring relationship gone sour can take up a great deal of time and emotional energy, to everyone's detriment.

Given that mentoring relationships have been the subject of academic study, with a toolkit of best practices well supported by evidence, it makes sense to think carefully about how to establish and maintain your relationships with your graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduate researchers.