Effective Mentoring
The following comments are student and faculty responses to the question,“What are the key elements in establishing effective graduate mentoring relationships?”
Students
Stephen Granade, Physics
Get to know the person you’re mentoring or being mentored by. Talk with them regularly. Interact with them in social settings and not just in the department. It’s often difficult to find time for activities like this, but it pays off in the end. Mentors, when you’re with the person you’re mentoring, listen to what he or she is saying. Don’t just go through the motions.
Georgiary McElveen, Musicology
The effective graduate mentoring relationship begins as one between teacher and student, and evolves to become one of colleagues– professional equals. Throughout the relationship, the most important keys are knowledge, communication, and respect. A student must not only determine that her mentor has the kind of knowledge she is seeking (social, academic, professional, political), but must also be willing to ask questions and make requests, sometimes seemingly risky propositions! The productive mentor trains by example: she ably, willingly and respectfully addresses the student’s queries; sometimes offers unsolicited advice; serves as an advocate when necessary; and practices what she preaches.
Kirk White, Economics
I expect my mentor to read my work and offer suggestions for improvement. I also expect him to look out for opportunities that would benefit me professionally and, if need be, support me in front of other faculty.
Adrianne Wong, Cell Biology
Solid knowledge of the expectations and requirements for a degree, balance of cheerleading and devil’s advocacy, and availability
Faculty
John Cell
Professor, History
I’d say the most effective mentoring relationship occurs when the graduate student is actually in charge, deciding what she needs to know, and asking questions that will enable a director to help her find the answers. In the process, of course, the director may raise issues or give advice she hadn’t expected. But the exchange will be far more fruitful if the student is the initiator.
Jehanne Gheith
Associate Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature
It is important that the student has more than one mentor and that those people are not giving conflicting advice. If a graduate student is dependent on one person for mentoring, there can be problems. It is also important that the mentor take an interest in the grad student’s life as well as the intellectual work. This can be worked out by going out for coffee occasionally, etc. I also think it’s important that the mentor share some of her own experiences with the grad student.
Erich Jarvis
Assistant Professor, Neurobiology
Making sure that you set aside committed time to work with the student. Faculty business separate from mentoring can be quite busy, making it difficult to find time to spend with graduate students.
Robert Keohane
Professor, Political Science
Most important, I think, is a combination of rigorous intellectual criticism and personal encouragement. It’s a difficult combination. Students need the honest criticism but there is a danger of demoralizing them unless one accompanies it with praise and encouragement. Each student is different, so one’s assessment of personal psychology is critical. Some students need more criticism, some need more encouragement; some respond to deadlines and structure, others do not. Mentoring is not just an individual activity, but a supportive community–of faculty and fellow graduate students. Faculty/Student seminars are a key aspect of mentoring, providing role models, but also opportunities to try out ideas and papers in a familiar environment.
Cynthia Kuhn
Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Frequent communication, working out a mutual agenda that is articulated clearly, and mutual trust and respect.
W. Monty Reichert
Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Biomedical Engineering
Don’t act like you know all the answers, try to understand the student’s perspective, and realize that today’s crisis could be tomorrow’s afterthought.
Christina L. Williams
Associate Professor and Chair, Experimental Psychology
Graduate students should recognize that faculty mentors juggle many roles. Faculty teach and advise undergraduates, serve administrative roles in their departments, on university committees, and in their professional field (e.g., editing journals, running professional societies, serving on grant review committees), and often have other graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to mentor. For this reason, graduate students should take the initiative to talk regularly to their mentors by setting up regular meeting times and coming to meetings prepared with organized information or questions. They need to seek out their mentors and not simply wait for their mentors to go in search of them.
Jo Rae Wright
Professor, Cell Biology
In my opinion, the most important factor is to find a mentor that you can be honest with, comfortable with, and can communicate with.