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Finding and being a mentor

Explore the significance of mentorship in personal and professional development. Uncover the roles of mentors and mentees, benefits, challenges, and key aspects of effective mentoring relationships.

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Finding and being a mentor

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  1. Finding and being a mentor Rachel O’Brien, Allegheny CollegeBecca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College Preparing for an Academic Career workshop, June 2014

  2. Definition of a mentor • A wise guide • Someone who sees potential in another person and encourages human growth

  3. Definition of a mentee • A motivated seeker • Someone who gains skills, insight, and/or growth from a relationship with another person

  4. Benefits of mentoring • For the mentor: • Personally rewarding • Interpersonal skill development • Improved advising skills • Gain new collaborators • For the mentee: • Career selection • Goal clarification • Expansion of one’s network • Better understanding of the discipline’s culture/norms

  5. Reflect on your mentors. • What is/was their relationship to you? • What, specifically, did they provide you? • How, exactly, did they accomplish this?

  6. Reflect on your mentors. • What is/was their relationship to you?

  7. Who might serve as a mentor? • Parent or other family member • Religious leader (priest, rabbi, imam) • Coach or teammate • Teacher • Graduate student and/or lab manager • Colleague

  8. Reflect on your mentors. • What, specifically, did they provide you?

  9. What does mentoring produce? • Sharpened skills • Honed thinking and creation of meaning • Expanded awareness, insight, and perspective • Increased self-confidence • Professional and/or personal productivity • “Safe space” to offer and exchange ideas

  10. Reflect on your mentors. • How, exactly, did they accomplish this?

  11. What constitutes mentoring? • Respectful listening and/or observation • Objective feedback • Providing appropriate information at an opportune time • Empowering someone to create a change • Encouraging exploration of options

  12. What does a mentor do? • Makes observations • Answers questions • Provides prompts, with an eye toward “next steps” • Introduces the mentee to others and helps expand his/her network

  13. What defines this type of relationship? • Mutual respect and trust • Commitment to regular communication • Constructive exploration and reflection • Duration: months to decades • Structure: formal or informal

  14. Communication • Regular (not rushed) • Substantive (goes beyond “updates”) • Follow-through on promises (both sides) • Confidential

  15. Finding a mentor • Identify the type of guidance you are seeking (research, teaching, work-life balance, etc.) • Use your professional and social network to identify prospective mentors. • Choose someone with whom you are comfortable speaking openly.

  16. Mentoring your students • Some students may seek you out as a mentor. Other times, you may identify particular students as prospective mentees. • Be prepared to mentor about academic and non-academic issues • A mentor is not a therapist or an advice columnist. • The goal of mentoring isn’t to produce a clone of yourself.

  17. What might be some challenges to finding an effective mentor?What might be some challenges to serving as an effective mentor?

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