Mentoring is integral to how academics are formed and what trajectories their careers will take. Yet until recently, no one was trained to do it, and many academics have ingrained assumptions about mentorship that no longer fit the lives, needs, and aspirations of mentees. How to Mentor Anyone in Academia shares proven techniques for the professional development of junior faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in today鈥檚 rapidly changing academic landscape.
What led you to write this book?
Maria LaMonaca Wisdom: I never planned to write a book on mentoring. In a previous life, I was an English professor, teaching and writing about Victorian literature. At that time I rarely, if ever, stopped to reflect on whether I was a good academic mentor, or what mentoring even meant to me. Fast forward to 2019 and I found myself coaching graduate students, and then faculty, at Duke. Although these academics could bring any professional development topic to coaching, mentoring was easily in the 鈥渢op five,鈥� for mentees as well as mentors. I talked with many frustrated mentees, and a lot of frustrated mentors. Everybody wanted these relationships to work well, but something wasn鈥檛 aligning. The more of these conversations I had, the more easily I could see two truths: 1) across disciplines, both grad students and faculty were immersed in academic cultures where mentoring was assumed but rarely discussed and almost never formally taught; and 2) the very hierarchical form of mentoring that many academics learned from their mentors no longer squares with the needs and life experiences of today鈥檚 mentees. We need to talk a lot more about mentoring, and how to do it differently.
Aren鈥檛 there a lot of books and other resources out there on mentoring? What sets aside your book from all the others?
MLW: Mentorship, as an interdisciplinary field of study, has been around for at least forty years. The resources range from peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles and books to handbooks and think-pieces written for broader audiences. Within the past decade or so, there鈥檚 been a lot more attention, especially within STEM disciplines, to developing formal curricula and trainings specifically for academic mentors. This is fantastic stuff, but ask your average faculty member鈥攁t any institution鈥攈ow much training (formal or informal) they鈥檝e gotten as mentors, and the answer is still most likely to be 鈥渁 little鈥� or 鈥渘one.鈥� The wealth of knowledge we have about mentoring, I argue, is potentially intimidating to a mentor who may be pulled in a million different directions, and who might not have hours of time to devote to a formal training鈥攁ssuming one is even available on their campus. How To Mentor Anyone in Academia is the friendly, accessible, affordable paperback you can keep on your bookshelf鈥攁 pocket mentor, if you will鈥攁nd dip into whenever you feel 鈥渕entor imposter syndrome鈥� creeping in.
Whoa! What鈥檚 鈥渕entor impostor syndrome鈥�?
MLW: It鈥檚 the false belief that you can鈥檛 mentor somebody. It鈥檚 sustained in part by outmoded assumptions that mentoring is just about role modeling a very specific career path, or having all of the answers. We also tend to assume that scientists can only mentor other scientists, musicians mentor other musicians, and so forth. But once we push against those limiting stories, all sorts of new possibilities emerge for both mentors and mentees. If you feel confident in your helping skills鈥攏one of which we鈥檙e taught in grad school, by the way鈥攜ou truly can help or mentor anyone.
The fifth chapter of your book is titled 鈥淢entoring with an Elephant in the Room.鈥� What does mentoring have to do with elephants?
MLW: Academia remains a profoundly hierarchical domain. The 鈥渆lephant鈥� stands for the invisible power dynamics that seep into so many formal mentoring relationships, such as (most commonly) that between a PhD advisor and a doctoral student. Too often these relationships are saturated in fear, and people can鈥檛 learn or grow when they feel afraid. That may sound extreme, but consider the extent of power that many academic supervisors wield over their mentees. These supervisors may see themselves as benevolent and harmless, but they can make or break the mentee鈥檚 career. Knowing this, the mentee may remain in constant 鈥減erformance鈥� mode, and there will be many missed opportunities for learning and growth. The 鈥渆lephant鈥� is everywhere, yet we talk so little about it鈥攅ither within mentoring relationships themselves, or in much of the 鈥渂est practices鈥� literature on mentoring.
Your primary audience for the book is academic mentors, yet you also end every chapter with a section called 鈥淭akeaways for Mentees.鈥� Can you explain your reasoning behind that?
MLW: Despite the significant power imbalances in many mentoring relationships, mentees often have more power than they realize. And it鈥檚 easy to lose what you can鈥檛 see. If, for example, a mentee walks into a first meeting with a mentor with only the haziest idea of what they value and where they want to go, they鈥檝e already given up some of their power. Mentees also surrender power by assuming they can鈥檛 ask for what they need, whether that鈥檚 a professional development resource or a different way of working together. To this end, I include an exercise from my coaching work called 鈥渕aking the ask.鈥� Other 鈥渢akeaways鈥� include advice on topics such as finding alternative and complementary mentors, receiving mentor feedback well, and how to be an effective peer mentor for a friend or colleague. I encourage mentees who want better mentoring to read the whole book, however, not just the takeaways. How can you get good mentoring if you鈥檙e unsure what it is, or how it might be practiced?
You acknowledge that academics are super-busy people, and they might not have time to read the whole book. What one thing would you hope a busy mentor takes away?
MLW: Ah, so many things. Yet if I had to pick just one, it鈥檚 this. Mentors, stop talking so much. Too many academic mentors are addicted to advice-giving and sharing personal experience. Neither of these are as helpful for your mentee鈥檚 learning and development as you think, and there鈥檚 research from multiple fields to back that up. What would happen if you started talking less, and listening more?
About the Author
Maria LaMonaca Wisdom is assistant vice provost for faculty advancement at Duke University. Formerly a professor of literature and a graduate student adviser, she now holds a faculty appointment in the Program in Education at Duke. She is also a professional certified coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation.