While the longstanding structural challenges in the professional development of junior scholars of color can be confronted through strong mentoring relationships, the potential power of effective mentoring will only be …
Excerpt from the Introduction Having a good mentor early in a scholarly career can mean the difference between success and failure. It is striking that such an important activity in the training of new scholars has had few established definitions …
This guide is a companion piece to Pay It Forward: Guidance for Mentoring Junior Scholars, which was published by the Foundation and the Forum for Youth Investment in 2010. Pay It Forward offers a range of suggestions and resources to help …
In 2019, The National Academies published a consensus study on the Science of Effective Mentoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM). In spite of this disciplinary focus, the report and its associated website are relevant across disciplines because at its core, mentoring is comprised of a set of dispositions and skills that can be applied across fields.
Another comprehensive website that includes curricular resources and from which mentors and mentees can receive training is the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for the Improvement of Mentoring in Research (CIMER). Like the National Academies report, CIMER was originally developed with a STEMM focus, but its lessons, and its training workshops are available for mentors of undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, or junior faculty across disciplines.
Brown University’s Resources on Mentoring for Advisees and Mentees include a variety of useful links to guides, templates, and articles that can help mentors and mentees think about how to develop and maintain mentoring relationships.
The Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan has published two guides related to mentoring for graduate students. The first, How to Get the Mentoring You Want: A Guide for Graduate Students, provides graduate students with smart tips for how to seek out, develop, and maintain strong and productive mentoring relationships. The second, How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty, focuses on the role of mentors, outlining important guidelines for being a good mentor.
The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) is an organization dedicated to the professional development and mentorship of academics at every stage of their careers. Through virtual and in-person workshops, programs, and consultations, the NCFDD is a rich resource by which members receive and learn about tools and support related to mentoring in its many forms. One of the resources they provide is a Mentoring Map that outlines the various needs scholars have, from substantive feedback to emotional support, and helps scholars to think through and identify the people in their professional network who can and do provide the different types of support they need.
As noted above, the majority of academics and researchers are White, but of course faculty of color, Indigenous faculty, and faculty members from other underrepresented groups mentor junior scholars as well. In “The Unseen Labor of Mentoring,” Manya Whitaker discusses the invisible emotional labor faculty of color and other marginalized faculty perform. This resource can be useful to share with department chairs or other administrators who may need further understanding of the circumstances under which their underrepresented faculty members operate.
The William T. Grant Foundation invests in high-quality research focused on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and improving the use of research evidence in decisions that affect young people in the United States.
