Strong mentorship has been linked to enhanced mentee productivity, self-efficacy, and career satisfaction. It is also an important predictor of the success of diverse researchers-in-training.
NRMN is developing a working list of the attributes of effective mentoring across 5 domains: research skills, interpersonal skills, psychosocial skills, diversity/culturally-focused skills, and sponsorship skills.
These attributes are derived from existing literature, proposed organizational frameworks, and factors shown to impact academic persistence.
Proposed Attributes for Effective Mentoring Relationships
RESEARCH SKILLS
Developing disciplinary research skills
Teaching and Learning disciplinary knowledge
Developing technical skills
Accurately assessing understanding of disciplinary knowledge and skills
Values and practices ethical behavior and responsible conduct of research
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
Listening actively
Aligning mentor and mentee expectations
Building trusting relationships/ honesty
PSYCHOSOCIAL SKILLS
Providing motivation
Developing mentee career self-efficacy
Developing mentee research self-efficacy
Developing science identity
Developing a sense of belonging
DIVERSITY/CULTURALLY-FOCUSED SKILLS
Advancing equity and inclusion
Being culturally responsive
Reducing the impact of bias
Reducing the impact of stereotype threat
SPONSORSHIP SKILLS
Fostering independence
Promoting professional development
Establishing and fostering mentee professional networks
Actively advocating
NRMN is working to identify attributes and metrics to assess mentoring effectiveness. Future research will help identify which attributes are critical for effective mentoring of diverse mentees in biomedical sciences.
