Mentoring

• Learn how your protege’s journey through the profession may differ fundamentally from yours. Do not assume that your protege’s goals are identical to yours. Students and pre-docs in particular may be considering careers outside the academy and need support.
  
  
• Read about and understand the blockages different students may face.
  
  
• Develop your cross-cultural competency by reading about the historical context of US groups, the profession, and your own institution. While it's vital that you ask your protege about the specific challenges they face, avoid making them responsible for your education on these issues.
  
  
• Advocate rather than advise.
  
  
• Share inside information on how to succeed in the field. Erase informational frictions caused by asymmetric access to the "hidden curriculum."
  
  
• Establish trust and signal openness to having difficult conversations. Priming questions include:
  • What are the biggest barriers to your success, and what role can I play in helping
    to remove them?
  • What percentage of your time is spent on addressing exclusion against you or
    others?
  • How can I help amplify your voice?

So that they will be ready for pre-doc work when they graduate, it's key to prepare students early for research careers. Taking coursework and completing RAships takes time, so reaching out to undergraduates in their fourth year is too late.

Here are some strategies to guide students early in their undergrad career.

• Refer promising students to offices on campus that specialize in undergraduate research.
  
  
• Meet with students to discuss the nature and benefits of a research career. Point out specifically how they may be qualified for such a career, and the interest it might hold for them.
  
  
• Lower informational barriers, being sure to go over information that may seem obvious to you but may be news to anyone not familiar with academia. For example,
  
  Does the student know that certain coursework (e.g., Real Analysis) is
  unofficially "required" for PhD admission in your field?
  Do they know that PhD programs offer stipends and tuition remission?
  Do they have a realistic sense of what a professor's salary is (they tend to
  underestimate)?
  Do they understand the entrepreneurial nature of research, or the balance
  between research, teaching, and service at different institutions?
  
  
• Send the student's CV with a brief description of the student's stand-out qualities to your colleagues who may be looking for RAs.
  
  
• Hire a promising student as an RA yourself, or advise a paper or Bachelor's thesis.

Because of power differentials, it can be difficult to elicit candid feedback from a protege on mentoring outcomes and process. Nevertheless, rubrics for evaluation can reveal important trends. Consider applying these rubrics as your pre-doc is leaving to go on to their next opportunity.

• Measuring Mentee Outcomes
  • Attitudinal: sense of belonging, satisfaction with the discipline
    • Does your pre-doc feel they are welcome in the discipline?
      
      
  • Behavioral: declaring or maintaining a major, pursuing RAships, presenting at conference.
    • Was your pre-doc active in the intellectual culture of your institution, attending workshops and seminars, taking classes, etc.?
      
      
  • Career: PhD admissions, getting a job
    • Is your pre-doc moving on to a research-related career?
      
      
  • Health: strain or stress experienced by protege
    • Does your pre-doc report working especially long hours, or express anxiety coming to you with problems?
      
      
• Measuring Mentor Processes
  • Commitment: time spent, actions taken
    • How many times did you meet with your pre-doc to discuss their future, independent of the work they were doing for you? At what frequency?
      
      
  • Approachability: pre-doc initiating meetings, asking for help
    • Did you initiate these meetings, or did your pre-doc ask for them?
      
      
  • Perception: how committed and effective does the protege feel the mentor was?
    • Can you draw a line between your work as a mentor and your protege achieving their stated goals.