Leadership v. Mentoring & New Doctoral Students Francis T. Harten Long Island University / C.W. Post Campus

Even in this limited study of nine cases there are some implications that can be drawn between the mentoring experiences of the respondents as protégés in their early career paths with mentors. The majority of the respondents reported having positive experiences with mentors who were positive as well as inspiring in sharing their knowledge, experience, and deductive insight of encouragement and guidance with them during their mentoring process. Even the two respondent who had expressed some reservations as to either their mentors abilities or the experience itself stated with some certainty the beneficial aspects of the mentoring experience. The findings are limited due to the restrictive nature of the sample body of respondents. With this said the results are however consistent with what has been previously stated during the literature review. This helps with our generalized understanding of the benefits that can be established with positive and supportive mentoring experiences of both pre and new doctoral students with established mentors and mentoring programs. The respondents expressed a common element of benefiting from an early clarification of the process and the exact role of the mentor to the mentee relationship. Clarification with respect to what is expected of them both and what goals are anticipated during the mentoring experience.

The relationship that was built between the mentors and the respondent protégés equated to a one-on-one format of supervisor to subordinate even when the mentor had several individuals to mentor. One respondent described a peer to peer base but, still a one-on-one level. The oddity of the group was the one respondent who had a subordinate staff member with a particular area of expertise who acted as a mentor to the supervisor the respondent. Even in this unique situation the respondent expressed a rewarding mentoring experience. From all of these reported experiences it is clear that a system of relationship building must be put in place from the beginning. This human element of relationship building between the mentor and the protégé; whether on a one-on-one, peer-to-peer, or group level is necessary to create a successful mentoring experience for both the mentor and their protégé. So what does mentoring really do for the learning process of new doctoral students? In Landefeld, Mentoring and Diversity he states: Academically, it promotes achievement which in turn improves retention (and decreases attrition). Career wise, it assists mentees in setting goals, in advancing, in networking, and making changes, if so desired. A recent study related the lack of appropriate mentors and mentoring as a contributory factor in those scientists who have committed fraud in their research studies, which is not totally surprising since mentors play a significant role in teaching ethical behavior as part of conducting good research (Brainard, 2008). So this example shows that good mentors are good leaders by instilling in their protégés a foundational system of morals and ethical behavior to properly and wisely progress within their chosen professions and subsequent research as new doctoral students.

As stated earlier some of the biggest limiting factors to this study were the small number of case studies, the varied backgrounds of the participants, the short amount of time for which to accumulate, correlate and analyze the data collected. But, most restrictive was the small number of open ended questions posed to the study group. With these points of concern being said the following are suggested points for possible future research into the idea of leaders v. mentors & new doctoral students. 1. Focus on one specific career group / background. 2. Gain in-depth insight into participant gender, age, race, education, and economic factors and separate into subgroups accordingly. 3. Establish foundational information on the social, family, and employment history of participants. 4. Establish a more in-depth and telling array of direct/specific questions into the mentoring experience of the participants.

5. Possible future questions to ask specifically from participants: “Did your mentoring experience lead you to this point in your career path to seek advancement in education to obtain a doctoral degree?” “How long did the mentoring process last?” “How were the mentors selected?” “What were the expectations of the mentor from you as the mentee?” “What were the expectations as the mentee of your mentor?” “Was your mentoring process a specific program created to prepare and manage subordinates for advancement in your industry to leadership roles?” “As the mentee how would you qualify and rate the return on investment for the mentoring program you experienced?”

“Do you as the mentee feel that the mentoring program you experienced is successfully operated by the industry / career field?” “What suggestions as the mentee would you make to increase the successfulness of the mentoring program you experienced?” In conclusion from this study it has been established that from the limited knowledge gained from each case study participant that a good overall mentoring experience early on in one’s career path is beneficial. But, even for those who had a somewhat disappointing mentoring experience seeking to advance one’s educational level to that of a new doctoral student is still possibly and desirable. So it is still the unknown human factor that plays into the decision making [process of each new doctoral student to seek and hopefully complete their Doctoral Thesis & Degree requirements!