1. Musings on Mentoring Julie Gast Associate Professor of Health Education

2. Musings on Mentoring… As a student… Nothing to complain about Received support, advise, and research opportunities, and beer As a teacher and graduate advisor… About the same but minus the beer! The last decade… a wild ride As a Colleague… Have something to offer (experience is a great teacher) The need for mentorship still exists

3. What is mentoring? Tremendous amount of interest in mentoring in both academic and corporate worlds Has had mixed success in both settings Can be successful without it (or can you) It is more than giving advice… But what else mentoring is depends of the model of mentoring being applied

4. Model I: The Traditional Approach Junior faculty are paired with a more experienced faculty to (formally or informally): Receive guidance and support Coaching of the ways of the institution Offering visibility, exposure, and protection May provide access to resources (e.g., information, committee assignments, publications, data, grants, etc.) May provide skill development to the mentor

5. Hmmm… There are allegedly reciprocal benefits. The protégé gains competence and insights, whereas the mentor acts almost as an instrument of God, continuing the ‘creation’ of the individual, and gains an unusual sense of singularity and importance (Sheehy, 1981 as cited in Darwin, 2000)

6. Model I: The Traditional Approach The down side… A top down approach “Academically marginalized groups may lack access to mentors (age, race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality)” –specialized programs Status quo is maintained through this type of mentoring Ethical issues (information, work load, allowed to break free from the mentor)

7. Model II: Peer Mentoring Faculty of similar rank with similar backgrounds form dyads or triads to: Share job related information Share career strategies Provide emotional support-important! Career and family support/information Possible sharing of resources Possible professional collaboration

8. Model II: Peer Mentoring The down side… Misinformation shared unintentionally May be difficult to find a like minded colleague or even one with a similar academic background Assumes peers will work on behalf of each others best interest Ignores the competitive culture that exists in higher education Poses no threat to the status quo

9. Model III: Radical Humanist/Feminist Nonhierarchical, democratic process to form a peer community Involves a group of faculty from all ranks Across disciplines, gender, ethnicity, etc. Shared power Collective action (workshops, cross-discipline presentations and publications, etc.) Potential for advocacy and change instead of institutional assimilation

10. Model III: Radical Humanist/Feminist The down side… Can members be flexible and adapt to change as needed Can members put aside power issues-cultural and institutional Social action and change-some may feel this puts this “at risk” in the eyes of the institution Need to agree on collective action pursuits

11. So Now What? All forms of mentoring have pros and cons Know that multiple models of mentoring exist- what will work best for you as both mentor and a recipient of mentorship A variety of mentoring relationships is possible- and may even be best No matter where we are in our careers we can benefit from being in mentoring relationships Support, support, support