The Science of Mentorship

Like the circle of life, there’s the circle of mentoring relationships. If the mentoring is effective, the roles of the mentee and mentor will change. Sometimes, mentees begin the cycle over again, this time acting as a mentor themselves. 

This transition can be exciting, but many new mentors find themselves intimidated by new responsibilities.  In the final episode of Season Two, students and postdocs tell us about the moments they took on their first mentoring roles. They share what intimidated them, what skills they needed to learn, how they were supported through the transition, and what it was like to end a mentoring relationship. 

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

2020 changed everything一the way we live, communicate, and learn. The long-term physical isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic created big challenges for students and faculty, in both their personal and academic lives.

Our lives transitioned to exist virtually, and effective mentorship in STEMM was heavily impacted. In this episode, students and postdocs share their stories of how their academic journeys were impacted by the pandemic, their perspectives on virtual and online mentoring, the power of social media, and the importance of creating niche communities in STEMM. 

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

It’s easy to assume that most mentoring relationships are organically formed. But effective mentoring can take many forms, and relationships are often formed through formal mentorship programs. 

Mentoring programs require a lot of resources and investments, like time, energy, and money. But they can be incredibly effective in mentoring and retaining students in STEMM fields. In this episode, students and postdocs share stories of how mentorship programs supported them in their academic journeys. Students share how programs helped them pivot their academic pursuits, feel comfortable in new settings, and work to recruit and retain underrepresented students in STEMM careers. 

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

Mentoring relationships are social relationships, so identity - the way you think about yourself, how you are viewed by the world, and the characteristics you use to define yourself - matters.

People have multiple identities, such as their gender identification, sexual orientation, place of birth, race, ethnicity, profession, values, and even hobbies.

Students’ identities can heavily influence their academic journeys in STEMM. Therefore, mentors must consider and acknowledge identity when supporting their students. In this episode, we hear stories from students and postdocs who all come from various backgrounds and who hold different identities. They share how their identity influenced their STEMM journey, how their mentoring relationship approached identity, and the impact made when their mentors fully considered their identity. 

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

After a negative mentoring experience, students are often left confused, unhappy, and unsure of how to move forward in their STEMM career. These experiences can be tricky to navigate and respond to.

A negative mentoring relationship should never constitute the end of a student’s STEMM career. Students should feel safe to identify when a mentoring relationship isn’t effective and what they need instead. In this episode, students and postdocs share how they responded to negative experiences, how they were recovered, and what strategies may help prevent these experiences from happening in the first place.

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

Mentees must rely on someone with more experience and power to support them through their STEMM career. Sometimes, conflict happens. And it can have a massive impact on both mentees and mentors. 

Negative mentoring experiences in STEMM happen, and they can leave students and professionals feeling stuck and confused. In this episode, students and postdocs share their stories of what circumstances led to negative encounters with their mentors, and how these experiences impacted their careers. Students share the factors that contributed to these negative experiences for them, including unchecked intentions, refusal to get to know students, and uncontrollable circumstances. 

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

Some students quickly trust their mentors. Others are hesitant to be vulnerable with them. And some students encounter barriers that disallow them to trust their mentors at all. 

Building trust may sometimes be easy, or it may be awkward, depending on the relationship. But there’s a reason why trust is critical to an effective mentoring relationship. In this episode,  students share how they were able to build trust with certain mentors, how students navigated relationships where they were hesitant to fully trust their mentors, and how they responded in situations where trust was broken. 

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

For many students in STEMM, family life is a top priority. However, some students have found tension when it comes to balancing family life and their STEMM careers, from both faculty and colleagues.  

For mentoring relationships to be effective, mentors must acknowledge students as whole people with priorities, responsibilities, and important personal decisions that exist outside of STEMM. In this episode, we hear from students who have juggled raising children and new family milestones as they simultaneously researched and earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees. They share about the challenges of balancing family life and career, the moments they needed to ask for support, and how mentors can support students with families without the student suffering repercussions. 

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

New mentoring relationships can be intimidating. Mentees may not know what to expect of their mentors, or what the goal of the mentoring relationship is. 

For mentoring relationships to be mutually beneficial, both mentees and mentors must establish expectations and boundaries. This is a skill that can take some practice, but helps students reach their full potential in STEMM. In this episode, students share their stories of when they recognized the need for expectations and boundaries in their mentoring relationships, how they established them, and how they responded when their mentor didn’t respect the boundaries in place.  

To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring. 

Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.