Are great mentors born that way, or can mentoring be learned?
When I joined the faculty at Emory University 25 years ago, I had very little experience in mentoring. Suddenly, I found myself running a research lab and taking on trainees who were depending on me for advice and wisdom. It was a challenging time, especially considering that I had no mentor training other than observing my own mentors during my years as a grad student and post-doc.
My story is hardly unique. For the majority of the past century, scientists have been expected to just absorb the art of mentoring through osmosis from their own mentors. In contrast, MBA programs have entire courses dedicated to managerial training. Needless to say, taking a managerial class does not automatically transform someone into a phenomenal mentor, but a little bit of training and exposure to broad concepts in this area can certainly be helpful in preparing scientists to manage others.
Many universities and companies have had this realization and now require mentor training for new scientific hires. At my institution (Emory), we have a 6-week mentoring workshop for new faculty members before they are allowed to take students in their labs. This workshop series is overseen by the Atlanta Society of Mentors, a grass-roots, multi-institution coalition of mentors dedicated to fostering modern and innovative mentoring practices in STEM disciplines.
Scientific societies are also contributing to providing mentor training as well as access to mentoring. For example, ASPET offers the ASPET Mentoring Network, which provides professional development training for grad students and post-docs, including the development of mentoring skills for when those trainees take on leadership positions later in their careers. ASPET also offers MentorMatch, an online program that facilitates one-on-one mentoring relationships for ASPET members at all career levels, including new faculty members (and new group leaders in industry) who want to connect with more senior scientists for consultations about mentoring issues.
I salute all the universities, companies and societies that have begun offering mentor training programs for scientists over the past couple of decades. The growth in this area should lead to a lot of cross-pollination and sharing of best practices, as it’s certainly crucial for all mentor training programs to be evaluated and fine-tuned to maximize their utility. However, the weight of evidence so far suggests that many of these programs are quite effective at enhancing mentoring abilities, thereby providing strong evidence that great mentors are not simply born that way, but can be developed over time.
Sincerely,
Randy Hall, PhD
President, ASPET
