ADVISER,
TEACHER,
ROLE MODEL, FRIEND
ON BEING A MENTOR
TO STUDENTS IN
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1997
NOTICE: This volume was produced as part of a project approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. It is a result of work done by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) as augmented, which has authorized its release to the public. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by COSEPUP and the Report Review Committee.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Under the authority of the charter granted to it by Congress in 1863, the Academy has a working mandate that calls on it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the NAS.
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) was established in 1964, under the charter of the NAS, as a parallel organization of distinguished engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of members, sharing with the NAS its responsibilities for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the NAE.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was established in 1970 by the NAS to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the NAS in its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the IOM.
The Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) is a joint committee of the NAS, the NAE, and the IOM. It includes members of the councils of all three bodies.
Financial Support: The development of this guide was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund. Dissemination support for this guide was provided by the American Mathematical Society.
Internet Access: This report is available via World Wide Web at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/mentor.
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International Standard Book Number: 0-309-06363-9
Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. This document may be reproduced solely for educational purposes without the written permission of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cover illustration by Leigh Coriale.
Printed in the United States of America
PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS (Chair), Director, Institute for Advanced Study
BRUCE M. ALBERTS,* President, National Academy of Sciences
WILLIAM F. BRINKMAN, Vice President, Physical Sciences Research, AT&T Bell Laboratories
ELLIS B. COWLING, University Distinguished Professor At-Large, North Carolina State University
GERALD P. DINNEEN, Retired Vice President, Science and Technology, Honeywell, Inc.
MILDRED DRESSELHAUS, Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MARYE ANNE FOX, Vice President for Research, University of Texas at Austin
RALPH E. GOMORY, President, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
M.R.C. GREENWOOD, Chancellor, University of California, Santa Cruz
RUBY P. HEARN, Vice President, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
MARIAN KOSHLAND, Professor of Immunology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
THOMAS D. LARSON, Professor Emeritus, The Pennsylvania State University
PHILIP W. MAJERUS, Washington University School of Medicine
DANIEL L. McFADDEN, Director, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
KENNETH I. SHINE,* President, Institute of Medicine
MORRIS TANENBAUM, Vice President, National Academy of Engineering
WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Malcolm Wiener Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
WILLIAM A. WULF,* President, National Academy of Engineering
LAWRENCE E. McCRAY, Executive Director
DEBORAH D. STINE, Associate Director
DAVID R. CHALLONER (Chair), Vice President for Health Affairs, University of Florida
ELLIS B. COWLING, University Distinguished Professor At-Large, North Carolina State University
MILDRED DRESSELHAUS, Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MARIAN KOSHLAND, Professor of Immunology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
MARY J. OSBORN, Department of Microbiology, University of Connecticut Health Center
WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Lucy Flower University Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, University of Chicago
Principal Project Staff
DEBORAH D. STINE, Project Director
ALAN ANDERSON, Consultant-Writer
PATRICK P. SEVCIK, Research Associate
LYNNE GILLETTE, Staff Officer
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
This guide—intended for faculty members, teachers, administrators, and others who advise and mentor students of science and engineering—attempts to summarize features that are common to successful mentoring relationships. Its goal is to encourage mentoring habits that are in the best interests of both parties to the relationship. While this guide is meant for mentoring students in science and engineering the majority of it is widely applicable to mentoring in any field.
This guide is descended from a series of related publications. The original concept grew out of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) report Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers
Discussions during and after the preparation of Reshaping indicated the need for a guide for students who are planning their education and professional careers. The guide that emerged, Careers in Science and Engineering: A Student Planning Guide to Grad School and Beyond (1996), sought to help students take a broader view of the potential applications of their science and engineering education. A related student guide, which considers questions of ethics and scientific integrity, is On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research (1995).
In the process of developing Careers, graduate and post-doctoral
students in focus groups noted that faculty and advisers needed guidance
as well to adapt to changing employment conditions. This guide is meant
to complement Careers by assisting mentors and advisers in understanding
how they might help students identify and respond to the challenges of
becoming scientists or engineers. For convenience, the text contains several
types of boxes:
COSEPUP has also developed a sample form to help evaluate faculty mentors. The form can be adapted by individual institutions to suit their own needs. The version of the form offered here is most appropriate for use by advanced graduate students (for example, third-year and higher PhD students), postdoctoral fellows, and recent doctoral-program graduates who have had a long relationship with a mentor. The book and the form are both at the following Web address: http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/mentor. See "Mentoring"; under "Resources"; for further discussion of assessment methods.
The preparation of this guide was overseen by a guidance group consisting of David Challoner (chair), Ellis Cowling, Mildred Dresselhaus, Marian Koshland, Mary Osborn, and William Julius Wilson.
Valuable feedback was provided by an external advisory group composed of Douglas Bodner, George Campbell Jr., Carlos Gutierrez, Karen Harpp, Susan Kiehne, Susan Lasser, Susan Mims, Norine Noonan, Richard Tapia, and Michael Zigmond. Special thanks go to Beth Fischer and Michael Zigmond for excellent references, Martha Shumate Absher for information on students with disabilities, and Marjorie Olmstead for her article on mentoring junior faculty.
Three focus groups, attended by some four dozen faculty and students from 16 colleges and universities, gathered for helpful and spirited discussions of this guide in Washington, DC, at Sigma Xi in Research Triangle Park, NC, and at the California State University, Long Beach. Thanks go to Lynne Gillette, Ellis Cowling, Stuart Noble-Goodman, and Glenn Nagel for recruiting the focus groups.
Staff for the project included Deborah Stine, associate director of COSEPUP and project director; Lynne Gillette, staff officer on temporary assignment from the Department of Energy; Alan Anderson, science writer; Norman Grossblatt, editor; and Patrick Sevcik, research associate.
2 THE MENTOR AS FACULTY ADVISER
Mentoring Undergraduates
Mentoring Graduate Students
Mentoring Postdoctoral Students
Mentoring Junior Faculty
3 THE MENTOR AS CAREER ADVISER
Envisioning and Planning a Career
Undergraduates: Early Perspectives
Graduate Students: Helping Students Become
Colleagues
Postdoctoral Students: Finding a "Real"
Job
The Career as Continuum
4 THE MENTOR AS SKILLS CONSULTANT
6 RECOMMENDATION: IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF MENTORING
TIPS
Advice for New Mentors
Building Respect
Aptitudes and Goals
Two Key Career Questions to Discuss with
Students
Writing Letters of Recommendation
Building Trust
STYLES
Good Mentoring: Seeking Help
Poor Mentoring: Cultural Bias (1)
Poor Mentoring: Cultural Bias (2)
Poor Mentoring: Inappropriate Behavior
Good Mentoring: Academic Warning Signs
Poor Mentoring: When Is a Risk Worth Taking?
Good Mentoring: Socialization
Good Mentoring: Being Flexible
Poor Mentoring: Honest Advice
Good Mentoring: Breaking Through Red Tape
FACTS
Why Be a Good Mentor?
Three Logistical Issues to Discuss with
Doctoral and Postdoctoral Candidates
A Resume or a CV?
PROFILES
A Mathematics Major Who Became an Actuary
A Nurse Who Became a Research Manager
A Geneticist-Molecular Biologist Who Became a Patent Lawyer
SUMMARY POINTS
Report Brief: Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers