Mentorship: The necessity of intentionality.

Abstract

A large body of research exists that is dedicated to exploring and defining mentoring. It is widely recognized that mentorship is a process informed by one's personal experiences. Yet, mentorship literature primarily centers around advancing technical proficiencies, and very little focuses on individual characteristics, such as honesty, consistency, and transparency. Individual wisdom is an invaluable tool for intentional mentorship. Intentional mentors catalyze the ability to understand and tap into one's own power, promote awareness of individual strengths and limitations, and clarify personal vision. Through intentional mentorship, mentors identify, improve, and implement strategies and skills that they acquired throughout their career. After conducting a self-assessment and identifying the personal skills that can be attributed to effective mentoring, mentors advance along the mentorship continuum to improve, and subsequently implement, these skills. Given the changing landscape of the scientific workforce in general, faculty mentors must be intentional about seeking avenues for growth. Beyond individual implementation, it is essential for educational institutions to also take a systemic approach when it comes to supporting faculty advisors and their mentees. A few tools and resources are offered to encourage mentors in taking a proactive role as they intentionally develop and enhance their individual mentoring process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).