The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM (2019) / Chapter Skim
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5 Mentorship Behaviors and Education: How Can Effective Mentorship Develop?
5 Mentorship Behaviors and Education: How Can Effective Mentorship Develop?
Pages 103-126
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From page 103... ...
A growing body of evidence suggests that regardless of the configuration of mentorship, effective mentoring relationships are characterized by trust, responsiveness, and career and psychosocial support. One set of desired mentor behaviors is outlined in the Entering Mentoring curriculum, now in its second edition (see Box 5-2)
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From page 104... ...
Mentors also recognize the influence they have as a professional role model. behaviors included in Entering Mentoring relate to mentee perceptions of psychosocial and career support or particular mentee outcomes.2 In the ideal situation, regardless of the configuration of a mentoring relationship, mentors and mentees will work together to define the knowledge, skills, abilities, and 2 The Entering Mentoring curriculum has been adapted to suit different disciplines and career stages of the mentee.
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From page 105... ...
. Balancing Trust and Privacy Effective mentoring relationships are built on active bilateral trust, as well as on mutual accountability and responsibility (Greco, 2014; Hund et al., 2018; Johnson-Bailey and Cervero, 2004; McGee et al., 2015; Montgomery, 2017)
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From page 106... ...
Many formal mentoring relationships in STEMM involve a mentor who is also a research advisor or supervisor responsible for making evaluative judgments about their mentee's progress and performance.9 Research from workplace settings indicates that, because supervisors and employees are part of different social groups, complete trust may not be possible but certain communication characteristics can help to promote trust (Wanberg et al., 2007; Willemyns et al., 2003)
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From page 107... ...
programs can serve as a foundation upon which to build successful and enduring mentoring relationships. The mentoring up approach is gener ally well received by both mentors and mentees, with mentees reporting they learned skills to maximize their own relationships as mentee and mentor (Lee et al., 2015)
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From page 108... ...
, mentorship compacts, mentorship maps, and mentoring plans.10 Individual Development Plans The IDP is a tool for providing structure to mentors and mentees in their work together (Vincent et al., 2015)
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From page 109... ...
If necessary, such a document can be helpful for an ombudsperson who may become involved in helping to mediate or repair a mentoring relationship. Mentoring Maps Mentoring maps are versatile tools designed to help an individual identify academic and career goals, sources of support to reach those goals, and areas where unmet needs could benefit from forming new mentoring relationships as part of a mentorship network (Montgomery, 2017)
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From page 110... ...
While a dearth of research studies that directly examine negative mentoring experi ences of undergraduate and graduate students in STEMM exists, several recent reports 14 entoring M plans of this type can be found in the Entering Mentoring curriculum. 15 or F more information about the NSF Postdoctoral Researcher Mentoring Plan, see https://www.nsf.
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From page 111... ...
The mentee may perceive such omissions by mentors as an impression of their own incompetence or lack of belonging as mentees. Building on this conceptualization of negative mentoring experiences, researchers studied 156 workplace mentees and found that more that 50 percent of them reported at least one negative mentoring experience, and that they collectively reported a total 16 e Th National Academies Committee on Supporting the Whole Student: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Well-Being in STEMM Undergraduate and Graduate Education has been tasked to "conduct a study of the ways in which colleges and universities provide treatment and support for the mental health and well-being of under raduate and graduate students, with a focus on STEMM students to the extent fields of g study are available." More information is available at https://www8.nationalacademies.org/pa/projectview.
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From page 112... ...
. After analyzing these experiences, the investigators generated a taxonomy of 15 types of negative mentorship experiences that fit five major themes: • Mismatched work styles, values, and personalities • Distancing behavior, such as self-absorption of the mentor and neglect by the mentor • Manipulative behavior, such as the mentor inappropriately delegating work to the mentee, taking credit for the mentee's work, or harassing the mentee • Lack of mentor expertise, including both technical and interpersonal incompetence • General dysfunctionality, such as mentors having negative attitudes or personal problems Studies of abusive supervision also provide insight into how negative mentor ing experiences might manifest in STEMM mentoring relationships, because formal STEMM mentorship typically involves supervision with evaluative responsibilities that result in an inherent imbalance of power and authority.
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From page 113... ...
. In one study of student mentorship, more than 25 percent of psychology graduate students reported negative mentoring experiences with their dissertation advisor (Clark et al., 2000)
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From page 114... ...
Second, mentors may not be aware that particular behaviors are problematic and may not be willing to report less-than-ideal behavior, making mentor self-reports of negative mentoring experiences equally subjective. Finally, mentee perceptions of mentoring relationships have been shown to fundamentally alter these relationships and to have long-term effects on mentee outcomes (Eby and Allen, 2002; Eby et al., 2008, 2010; Scandura, 1998)
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From page 115... ...
Chapter 7, in its discussion of culture change and the steps that various members of academic institutions can play in fomenting culture change, also lays out actions that institutions can take to incentivize faculty mentors, in particular, to recognize the importance of learning to be effective mentors and take the time to engage in mentorship education activities as part of their professorial duties. 21 e committee recognizes that individuals often occupy both the mentor and the mentee roles at the Th same time for certain career stages.
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From page 116... ...
A few programs that include mentor education descriptions are noted in Chapter 4;23 two additional examples of mentorship education for mentors of undergraduate and graduate students in STEMM are 23 hile there are many programs designed to benefit STEMM students and increase retention in W STEMM that include mentorship as a component, few studies have isolated the effect that mentorship and mentoring relationships play in benefiting students.
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From page 117... ...
Research using both qualitative and quantitative methods has shown that mentors who participated in Entering Mentoring–based education assess their mentees' skills and communicate with them more effectively, when compared with untrained mentors, a finding supported by reports from undergraduate researchers, who indicated that they had better experiences with trained mentors (Pfund et al., 2006)
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From page 118... ...
However, there are opportunities to develop and test training interventions that address other factors that are known or hypothesized to affect mentoring relationships and mentee persistence. These include factors such as power dynamics, cultural awareness, research self-efficacy, and motivation.
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From page 119... ...
Participants reported they found the program valuable in that their cultural responsiveness and cultural skills increased, as did their intentions and confidence to deal directly with cultural diversity in their mentoring relationships (see Figure 5-1) (Byars-Winston et al., 2018)
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From page 120... ...
. This curriculum was developed in an effort to formalize the programming that was being done with undergraduate students engaged in mentored research and to help undergraduate students gain knowledge and skill in navigating their mentoring relationships and research environments.
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From page 121... ...
. The new materials are designed for both undergraduate and graduate student mentees across STEMM disciplines, and are available from the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research website.31 The activities and assessment tool are organized by the Entering Research conceptual framework, which includes seven areas of trainee development: (1)
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From page 122... ...
Preliminary find ings from a national randomized control study testing the effectiveness of a culturally responsive mentorship module added to the Entering Mentoring curriculum revealed that faculty mentors receiving the additional module content were more likely to view their
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From page 123... ...
, developed in 2012 by investigators at the University of Minnesota (Weber-Main et al., 2019) .33 This course, which takes 90 to 120 minutes to complete, prepares faculty to be effective research mentors to graduate students, junior faculty, and postdoctoral researchers by providing descriptions of different mentorship approaches, an overview of roles and responsibilities within the mentoring relationship, a structured approach to mentorship, a toolkit of resources, and interactive learning exercises to illustrate strategies for effective mentorship.
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From page 124... ...
This interest was also expressed at the second national conference on the Future of Bioscience Graduate and Postdoctoral Training, which highlighted the desire for institutions to make it widely known among faculty, students, and postdocs that mentorship education brings with it tangible benefits that can improve the outcomes of and satisfaction with mentoring relationships (Hitchcock et al., 2017)
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From page 125... ...
• By participating in mentorship education, mentors and mentees will receive resources and materials on how to be more effective in their mentoring relationships. • Mentor and mentee education provides the opportunity to discuss mentorship challenges with peers, share best practices, read relevant literature, and review structured documents for mentorship success, including mentorship compacts and IDPs.
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