Faculty are invited to join us for the GCIM Mentor Well Program on best practices in mentoring. There is a national focus on mentorship and optimization of mentoring relationships. Published evidence shows that mentoring impacts the outcomes of trainees across disciplines and career stages and that mentor education improves mentoring relationships. This series is based on the Entering Mentoring curriculum developed by the Center for Improved Mentoring Experiences in Research (CIMER). It is intended for faculty mentors of graduate students, but will have useful information for mentors of all types. Participants who complete the full series will receive a GCIM Mentor Well Certificate. We recommend ‘Maintaining Effective Communication’ and ‘Aligning Expectations’ as good sessions to start with.
Mentor Well Sessions
Learn when Mentor Well sessions are offered and register to attend here. More information about what each session covers is provided below.
Aligning Expectations
One critical element of an effective mentor-mentee relationship is a shared understanding of what each person expects from the relationship. Problems between mentors and mentees often arise from misunderstandings about expectations. Importantly, expectations change over time, so frequent reflection and clear communication about expectations are needed regularly.
Maintaining Effective Communication
Good communication is a key element of any relationship, and a mentoring relationship is no exception. It is critical that mentors reflect upon and identify characteristics of effective communication and take time to practice communication skills in the session and with their mentees. As mentors, it is not enough to say that we know good communication when we see it.
Assessing Understanding
Determining whether mentees understand core concepts about the research they are doing is critical in a productive mentoring relationship, though this is surprisingly difficult to do. Developing strategies to assess how well mentees understand the purpose of their project, underlying principles, and the context of their work is an important part of becoming an effective mentor. Moreover, mentors need to be able to identify the causes for confusion and develop strategies to address misunderstandings.
Promoting Independence and Self-Efficacy
An important goal in any mentoring relationship is helping the mentee become independent; yet, defining what an independent mentee knows and can do is often not articulated. Defining what independence looks like and developing skills to foster independence are important to becoming an effective mentor. Defining independence becomes increasingly complex in the context of highly collaborative projects.
Fostering Mental Health and Well-being
Graduate students experience high rates of anxiety and depression that can result in strained mentor-mentee relationships, slowed degree progress, and other more serious outcomes. Mentors usually are not trained mental health professionals, though we do often have close professional relationships with mentees. Building a strong understanding of the boundaries of your responsibilities with regard to mentee mental health is critical to positive experiences for both the mentor and mentee. Learn how to provide a professional and mentally healthy work environment.
Addressing Access: Building Connections and Community
Access and community shape interactions and relationships, as do biases, assumptions, and preconceptions. This session provides practical ways to foster stronger connections and a greater sense of community in mentor-mentee dynamics.
Fostering Professional Development
A goal of most mentoring situations is to enable the mentee to identify and achieve both academic and professional outcomes. Though learning to do disciplinary research, entrepreneurship, or creative artistry is an important academic outcome in mentoring relationships, many other outcomes will influence a mentee’s future career. Mentors should consciously consider and support their mentees to achieve these other outcomes as well.
Mentoring Capstone: Building out Your Mentoring Philosophy
Reflecting upon your mentoring relationships is a vital part of becoming a more effective mentor. This is especially important following mentor training, so that you can consider how to implement changes in your mentoring practice based on the training. You must complete all other sessions before registering for this session.