slides: mentoring workshop 9-11-14

Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute Translating Science into Solutions for Better Health

The Joy of Mentoring: Strategies to Successful Mentorship

Emil Bogenmann, PhD, EdD Director, TL1 Program SC-CTSI


Did You Know?

That studies demonstrated that 20 to 25 % of graduate students are drug users. (recreational as well as prescription drugs)

That there is a high prevalence of clinical depression among graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. (faculty?)

That the longer graduate work last, the less likely the student will pursue a career in research.


Topics to Be Covered •  What is mentoring? Purpose? Benefits?

•  Challenges in mentorship

•  A research-based strategy to analyze and solve a mentoring problem.

•  Applying the strategy to your mentoring problems.


Mentorship Mentor

Personal and professional characteristics

Environment Organizational culture and climate

Mentee Personality, background academic skills, motivation and goal orientation


What is a mentor? “A great mentor is like a tattoo--you

will have him/her for life.”

What is an advisor?

An advisor gives you advice, a mentor gives you insight with a personal touch.


What is the purpose of academic mentorship?

Group 1


Group 2

What are the characteristics of a great mentor?

What do you expect from your mentor?


Group 3

What are the characteristics of a great mentee?

What do you expect from your mentee?


What are the benefits of successful mentorship?

Group 4


What variables influence mentorship?

Group 5


What are best practices of good mentoring?

Group 6


What is the purpose of academic mentorship?

•  Develop and advance the mentee’s academic and personal career

•  Develop future leaders

•  Develop future role models in science and academic medicine

•  Develop future academic mentors


What are the characteristics

of a great mentor?

•  Expert in the field providing meaningful feedback •  Empathetic and non-judgmental •  Good listener •  Concerned and caring about the mentee •  Sincere, open, ethical and honest •  Patient •  Sees potential and expresses confidence in the

mentee •  Others?


What are the characteristics of a great mentee?

Academically skilled, makes contributions to the mentor

Motivated, committed, goal oriented

Critical thinker, asks questions, challenges the mentor

Willing to be mentored, accepts criticisms gracefully

Dedicated to learning, willing to try new things

Skilled communicator


What are the benefits from successful mentorship?

•  Academic career advancement

•  Personal satisfaction with work, research

•  Personal recognition

•  Feelings of empowerment

•  Increased self-efficacy beliefs


What variables influence mentorship?

•  Gender •  Ethnicity, diversity, cultural background •  Socioeconomics •  Environment, culture, climate •  Academic skills and content knowledge •  Mentee’s motivation and efficacy beliefs •  Lifestyle •  Disabilities •  Age •  Family responsibilities


Best practices of good mentoring Jointly develop a concise mentoring plan using the Individual Development Plan (IDP) template

A tool kit to develop strategic scientific as well as career goals for each year.

Examine your skills, interests and values

Review progress to determine whether you have reached the set goals.

http://myidp.sciencecareers.org AAAS


Engage mentee in ongoing conversations Provide constructive and supportive feedback Foster networking and multiple mentors Demystify research, remove the fear Look out for mentee’s interest Treat mentee with respect and provide a personal touch Let mentee develop his/her own career Document your mentorship!

Best practices of good mentoring


What are some of the challenges in mentorship?

•  Mentor/mentee personality mismatch

•  Research project is unrealistic and does not advance

•  Funding issues

•  Academic performance of mentee

•  Mentor is spread very thin

•  Environment is not conducive for success


Some common issues

•  Mentor is not available, accessible •  Mentor does not provide feedback on

research, abstracts, and/or manuscripts in a timely way

•  Mentor is taking credit for my work •  Mentor favors other people •  Mentor leaves the institution


Most Mentoring Problems Are Performance Problems!


Mentorship Mentor

Personal and professional characteristics

Environment Organizational culture and climate

Mentee Personality, background academic skills, motivation and goal orientation


Performance problems (GAPs) are caused by:

Lack of Knowledge

Lack of Motivation

Organizational Barriers

(Clark and Estes, 2008)

Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute Translating Science into Solutions for Better Health 24

GAP analysis of a performance problem

Does the mentee and/or mentor have a Knowledge problem?

They don’t know what to do

They don’t know how to do it



Do they have a Motivation problem?

Not starting something new (avoidance)

Not persisting (persistence)

Not working smartly (mental effort)



Are they experiencing Organizational Barriers?

Work processes or policies interfere

Need tools or materials to succeed

Environment (culture/climate) interferes


GAP analysis of a mentoring problem

1. Listen and understand the problem

Listen ACTIVELY to the mentee’s problem. “What is happening?”

Paraphrase the problem in your words. Ask “Is that it?” “Did I understand?”

Repeat this step until the mentee says “Yes, you understood.” Mentors do not have to agree with the problem, but they must understand the problem.


GAP in Knowledge: and/or

GAP in Motivation: and/or

Organizational Barriers?

GAP analysis of a mentoring problem

Perform a GAP analysis Is the Problem caused by:

2.


Solve the mentoring problem

Target the intervention to address:

Knowledge GAP

Motivation GAP

Organizational Barriers

1.



Challenging: Goals must be doable. Gradually increase challenge.

Concrete: Goals must be achievable and mentees must know when they succeeded.

Current: Short term goals are more powerful.

Set clear goals 2.



3. Provide frequent and positive feedback

4. Regularly evaluate progress and compare with stated goals. (Use clear benchmarks.)

5. Do NOT solve the problem for them – ask them for their input.

Remember the concise mentoring plan outlined in the IDP


Solve a mentoring problem using the GAP analysis

What caused the mentee’s performance problem you encountered?


The Mentor, the Mentee, and the ECDE

Mentor Direct Guidance

Mentee Carries out research with

mentor and receives training via ECDE

ECDE

Training, tracking and career directions


References

Clark, R. E. and Estes, F. (2008) Turning research into results: A guide to selecting the right performance solutions. CEP Press.

slides: mentoring workshop 9-11-14

Education