Mentor Mentee Research Articles

Issues in the Mentor–Mentee Relationship in Academic Medicine: A Qualitative Study

To explore the phenomenon of the mentor-mentee relationship and to characterize this relationship among people who have obtained early career support from a government funding agency, in order to facilitate the development of future mentorship programs. A qualitative study was completed involving clinician scientists who were awarded early career support from a provincial funding agency (Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and their mentors. Individual, semistructured interviews were completed, and transcripts of interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Interviews with 21 population health or clinician investigators (mentees) and seven mentors were completed from October to December 2006. Several themes were identified including the experience with mentorship, experience of being assigned a mentor versus self-identification, roles of a mentor, characteristics of good mentoring, barriers to mentorship, and possible mentorship strategies. Participants believed mentorship to be important, but several experienced significant difficulty with finding mentors and establishing productive relationships. Challenges exist within academic medicine around ensuring that clinician scientists receive appropriate mentorship. Strategies to enhance the mentorship process were identified, including the development of formal mentorship initiatives, the creation of workshops organized by funding agencies in partnership with universities, and the development and evaluation of a mentorship training initiative for mentors and mentees. These findings can be applied to any academic health sciences institution.

Yes…But: Footnotes To Sage Advice

In this commentary, I assume the role of a footnoter to the contributions in this special issue devoted to the development of educational psychologists. In those footnotes, insights and recommendations forwarded by the contributors are extended, clarified, or occasionally countered. Topics of dialogue include advice on defining a research program, supporting the professional development of women and underrepresented populations, achieving balance in one’s life, discussing reasons why academics publish, building collaborative relationships, and considering the mentor–mentee relationship.

The organizational impact of university labor unions

The current review presents both postulated and empirically tested consequences of university unionization and labor strikes on the North American institution’s administration, faculty, and students. The review explores the impact of collective bargaining on employee working conditions including job security, academic freedom, university governance, and due process. More importantly, this review examines the much neglected issue of organizational work relationships in a unionized academic environment. The relationships discussed include those between faculty members, between the faculty and administration, between the faculty and the university as an institution, and between the faculty and their union. The threat of unionization and labor strikes to the professor–student or mentor–mentee relationship has been a central concern of those opposed to graduate student unions, and this issue is also addressed here. The text concludes with the identification of potential areas for future research.

Constructing a Model for the Effective Mentoring of Music Educators

In this article, a model for the effective mentoring of music educators is presented. Mentoring and induction literature is referenced to examine recent trends and determine the contents of the model. The model begins with state government design and funding of a mentoring program. Layers are built on this foundation, including (a) support of professional organizations; (b) mentor selection, training, and compensation; (c) mentor–mentee release time; and (d) a multiyear concept. Completion of a mentoring program as a requirement for full teacher certification completes this mentoring program model. The model provides a departure point for experimental trials, future research, and eventual comprehensive program design.

How to find and succeed as a mentor

To be successful, every pharmacist must have at least one mentor and serve as a mentor. A mentor provides a positive career role model, professional growth opportunities, advice, career challenges, access to learning resources, encouragement, and feedback on a mentee’s career progress. The term mentor comes from Greek mythology. As Odysseus set out for the Trojan War in Homer’s The Odyssey, he entrusted his house and the education of his son, Telemachus, to his friend Mentor, a wise elder, and asked him to teach Telemachus “all you know.” Some questions to consider when identifying candidates for mentor include To have a successful relationship with a mentor, you must have a sincere willingness to learn continuously and grow professionally. This requires taking the time to develop a personal relationship with him or her. Ask about his or her childhood, parents, siblings, reasons for choosing pharmacy as a career, and major life influences. Inquire about his or her pharmacy school, courses or clerkships enjoyed, and favorite faculty member (and the reason why). Mutual trust and respect are fundamental in the mentor–mentee relationship.

Mentor-Mentee Relationships: A Two-Way Street

The mentor-mentee relationship should be a source of joy and growth for both participants. Too often, the mentee feels intimidated and the mentor overburdened. Mentor Diane Riendeau and mentee Shannon Hughes share their thoughts and experiences in the hopes that new teachers and experienced teachers alike will gain insights into the role each play in encouraging and promoting the teaching profession. These are the elements they describe as key to building a successful relationship with a fellow teacher and setting the climate for a valuable experience for both parties.

Mentoring in-service teachers: Issues of role diversity

This paper reports on the findings from a review of classroom-based action research reports by the masters students of an in-service teacher education programme offered by the Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development in Karachi, Pakistan. In these reports the students played the roles of researchers and mentors, i.e. they worked as mentors with teachers in a school, researched the process of mentoring and reported the findings. I undertook this review to report findings related to impact on schools and classrooms of new approaches to teacher development. While, the findings stopped short of reporting impact of mentoring on classrooms, it revealed significant issues pertaining mentors’ roles. There was tension in how these roles were conceptualized within the masters programme and how they were enacted. For example, the mentors were expected to work in a generalist role as mentors, i.e. to work with teachers irrespective of the discipline that the teachers taught. However, experiences from the field showed that perceptions of mentor as a subject specialist dominated the process of mentoring. The paper also reports on other issues pertaining to mentor–mentee interactions in the context of in-service teacher education in a developing country setting.

Sometimes a novice and sometimes an expert: mentors’ professional expertise as revealed through their stories of critical incidents

Drawing on the methodology of critical incidents, this study sets out to explore the perspectives that 20 experienced in‐service mentors in Israel adopt towards critical incidents in their work, as they account for how they reason about and act upon these incidents. Mentors’ stories of critical incidents shed light on the complex nature of mentors’ professional expertise, reflected in the finding that experienced mentors’ reasoning and behaviour constantly fluctuates between a novice and an expert stage, depending upon the nature of the situation and the type of mentor–mentee interaction that the mentor is confronted with. The study supports the more dynamic, discontinuous and interactionist view of the acquisition of expertise, highlighting the regressions and progressions that play out when experienced professionals take up an additional role, such as in the passage from teaching to mentoring.

Experiences of beginning teachers in a school‐based mentoring program in Sweden

Even though teacher education has been successful in preparing students for their future profession, the classroom reality can differ greatly from the inservice training. Many novice teachers therefore find the transition from student teacher to inservice teacher overwhelming To support beginning teachers, mentoring programs—where more experienced teachers support novice teachers—have become commonplace in many schools worldwide. In Sweden, mentoring for beginning teachers has been a frequent feature of support since 2001. This study, conducted in Sweden, examines seven novice teachers and the impact the mentoring process had upon them during their first‐year teaching. Based on interviews, it was found that these experienced both professional and personal support from their mentors. The study also showed the significance of observant leaders within the mentorship program following up on the development of the mentor–mentee relationship.

Mentoring Medical Students in Academic Emergency Medicine

Mentoring is an important aspect of career development for medical students, residents, and junior faculty. It is vital to the professional growth and maturation of individuals early in each phase of their careers. Additionally, mentoring has a critical role throughout all career stages, because the mentor-mentee relationship provides mutual benefit to both participants. This article will describe the role of the mentor, suggest ways to increase the likelihood of successful mentoring, and identify pitfalls in the mentoring process predominantly related to medical students. In contrast to role models, mentors play an active part in the development of a young physician's career. This difference will be discussed. Finally, this article will describe the responsibilities of career guidance and recommendation letter authorship that mentors assume for medical students.

Evaluation of the mentor-mentee relationship in an occupational therapy mentorship programme.

Mentor group relationships in an occupational therapy university curriculum were investigated. In phase I, mentors (n = 23) and mentees (n = 124) were surveyed over a four year period. In phase II, 14 mentees from the same time period were surveyed after graduation. It was found that mentors and mentees surveyed agreed that their mentor group leader displayed more mentoring (i.e. ongoing partnership for guidance and support) than coaching (i.e. short-term relationship for providing feedback on areas requiring change) characteristics, and most agreed that, post-graduation, their mentor group leader had been a mentor to them. Mentees viewed their mentors predominantly as a role model or counsellor and emphasized knowledge, experience, guidance, and support as desirable attributes of a mentor. Contact with mentors for resources, support, or job-related purposes continued after graduation for more than half of mentees. Some mentees reported that peer mentoring had also occurred. Limitations of the study include the small sample size in Phase II and some aspects of survey design. Future areas of research identified include studying the development of the relationship over time (i.e. pre-, mid-way, and post-programme), comparing relationships between mentors and mentees who have similar versus dissimilar expectations for the programme, further examining peer mentoring or group relationships, and continuing post-graduation surveys with a larger sample size for increased reliability.

A Guest Editorial: The Mentor–Mentee Relationship

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Women’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Online Mentoring

Reach for the Sky is a telecommunications project that has provided teachers with access to the Internet and online courses on the use of the Internet. This article explores the delivery of online courses from the perspectives of both mentors and students, with a focus on the mentor—mentee relationship. It provides reflections by the mentors on what worked and what they would do differently the next time around.

OCCLUSION OF THE VERTEBRAL ARTERY.

Women constitute the majority of students at US schools and colleges of pharmacy but make up only a minority of senior faculty members. In academic pharmacy, male mentors play an essential role in supporting the professional success of female mentees. These male mentors must recognize their role in creating safe and equitable environments for female mentees to learn and collaborate. They should respect the unique experiences and concerns of female mentees, particularly regarding sexual violence and harassment, and conduct themselves in a manner that prioritizes safety. They should also strive to develop the same interpersonal connections with female mentees that they work to develop with male mentees, realizing that maintaining inequitable personal distance from women undermines their professional success. Specific suggestions for balancing the potentially competing concepts of mentee safety and personal connection are offered by the authors, a male faculty mentor and female student mentee pair.