In academia, it is often said that in achieving our research goals, we have done so only by standing on the shoulders of giants. At first, this statement may seem a bit grandiose and conjure images of the great scientists to come before our time – Marie Curie comes to mind first for me. Like a statement that should just be an unspoken, but universally accepted truth. However, I believe that “giant” should not be assigned solely to those who are listed in our textbooks or whose names are on the halls of our schools, but also to those who have helped us on the journey to get to where we are now. The professors, the colleagues, the students that surround us and mentor us to be better.
Mentors make a difference that matters, and the quality of our mentors can change the trajectory of our work for better or for worse. As such, understanding what makes a good mentor and how to be an effective teacher is key to fostering the next generation of researchers. In the following sections, I have taken some of the words from my mentors as well as my own experience to outline what I believe are the best ways to be an effective mentor regardless of your field of study.
👨🏫 Set Expectations
To be an effective mentor, there is a general expectation that you will provide professional guidance while maintaining a friendly and supportive relationship with your mentee. Understanding this simple expectation helps mentors put the goals of the project into perspective. The same is true for the mentee. By setting clear expectations for them early on they are more likely to succeed and reach the goals that you both have. The following questions can help you start to set your own expectations for the mentee.
What are the expected working hours?
What is the best method for communication and what is the frequency of progress reporting?
What are the learning outcomes and deliverables for this project?
However, it is key to realize that mentorship is a two-way street and effective mentors should always have the mentee’s best interests in mind. Ask them what their expectations are of you and adjust accordingly to meet their specific needs.
What do you want to get out of this experience?
How do you want to contribute?
How can I best enable your success?
📚 Transfer Knowledge
The learning curve for new students is steep. To help understand how steep, consider what it took to get to your level of knowledge on the project. How many hours, days, weeks… did you spend studying, how many mistakes did you make along the way, how many people did you have to ask for help. The act of transferring your knowledge to the mentee is necessary to their success, and the more effectively that you can do this, the shallower the learning curve will be.
When introducing mentees to your research, start by giving them context to their project and show them the big picture importance of their work. This will get them invested from the start and make knowledge transfer less painful. To continue the knowledge transfer process, prepare a list of critical resources for your mentee to read. Ask yourself what resources you would want to be given if starting the project fresh today.
As a general list, I like to give my mentees
1-2 good review papers on the topic
A recent progress report of mine
Any proposals submitted outlining the goals of their specific project
3-5 focused technical papers
1-2 non-technical industry focused reports.
This can be overwhelming to get all at once, so in addition to sending these documents I strongly recommend identifying the order of reading and which documents you find most important.
For scientific research, ensure that you provide hands on training on required practical skills. Then ask your mentee to demonstrate these skills through benchmarking experiments which are well studied with clear instructions and expected results.
Finally, it is important to realize that knowledge transfer should be done through regular interactions throughout the course of the mentee’s project rather than once at the beginning.
⚗️ Build Independence
Your mentee should not be completely dependent on you to make progress. While they will need more attention at the beginning of their project, it is key to give them the opportunity to problem solve with you there only as a support when needed. Let them leave the nest after a little while and encourage them to take ownership of the projects!
You can foster independent thinking in many ways by encouraging self-reflection and critical thinking. For example, ask them to come up with a potential solution to a problem before coming to you for help, even if their solution is way off the mark, the process of getting there is still valuable to their growth as an independent researcher.
Most importantly, let your mentee know that you trust their judgement. This reassurance goes a long way in building their confidence and gives them motivation to continue progressing independently.
💬 Give Feedback
Good mentors recognize areas of strength and areas for development in their mentee and can give feedback regularly to address both. While giving feedback can be challenging, it is an important part of being a mentor. Consider that every piece of feedback given to a mentee should be about their success and should not focus on the person but rather on the action or behavior. Mentors should strive to be open minded and non-judgmental in their approach to giving feedback.
There are two main types of feedback:
Continuation – “Keep doing this …”. When there is a specific action or behavior that you believe is beneficial for their success, encourage them to continue it. Feedback does not always have to be negative. Continuation feedback will assure your mentee that you see their capability to be a good researcher and is a both a mood and productivity booster.
Change – “We can try doing this …”. When addressing actions and behaviors that should be changed, mentors should avoid framing the feedback too negatively and should always include reasonable alternatives for the mentee.
Feedback is dependent on communication between mentee and mentor. Better communication, easier feedback. As such, it is critical to foster open and clear communication early on with your mentee so that your feedback is valuable and regular throughout the course of the project.
Wrap-up
It is important to note that these suggestions are not prescriptive, and that every mentor-mentee relationship is different. Rather than following word for word, I hope that this article helps to guide you in finding your own mentorship style that can best support those that you work with now or will work with in the future.