As you get started mentoring, we encourage you to watch our Mentor Orientation Video. In addition, the insight below, based on the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) mentorship model, will prove useful in effectively guiding your mentee.

• Substantive Feedback: Provide substantive and honest feedback in a nurturing and supportive way.
• Professional Development: Help your mentee build the skills outlined in our professional competency model.
• Emotional Support: Establishing trust is a critical step. Candidly share your own stories of resilience and failure.
• Be a Role Model: Reflect on how you'd like to serve as a role model, modeling the professional behaviors, communication styles, or etiquette customary in your industry or field. 
• Access to Opportunities: Help your graduate student build social capital by providing them with access to opportunities and your own professional network.
• Intellectual Community: Joining and feeling accepted by one’s intellectual community is part of a broader sense of belonging that facilitates the mutual exchange of ideas.
• Accountability: There should be mutual accountability to the relationship and to fostering the personal and professional growth of your mentee.

The mentor-mentee relationship has traditionally been at the heart of educating the next generation of Ph.D.s. It is important to create an inclusive environment: Evidence suggests that diverse groups of mentors are more successful at mentoring and provide better insight.

• Be open to different types of mentees. Some mentees are already excelling, while others may need your help to succeed.
• Be inclusive and evaluate candidate-mentees objectively. In addition to common biases (age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, etc.), be aware of academia-specific biases such as GPA, academic lineage, or affinity bias (favoring mentees who follow the same career path as you). To help become aware of these potential biases, we recommend undergoing implicit bias training (such as Project Implicit).
• Reflect on your own privileges (e.g., Inclusive Teaching) as a way of recognizing systemic discrimination.

It is important to adjust your mentoring style and expectations based on the needs and goals of the mentee, which can change over time. Each mentee has their own strengths and weaknesses.

• Always be supportive of your mentee(s). Give them credit, help them network, and keep their best interests in mind. Treat all mentees with respect.
• Keep an open mind about what type of mentoring your mentee may need. Mentoring can come from different sources, and mentees may require access to different types of advice at different stages of their doctoral training and career. Advise your mentee to seek out additional mentors. Peers or other PIs can also be mentors and some mentoring relationships can be temporary. Having diverse mentors can be very beneficial.
• Incorporate systematic tools for fairness and equity in communication with mentees by establishing clear plans and guidelines. For example, assign and stick to equal allotted times to meet with your mentees and consciously give other mentors an opportunity to contribute. Avoid favoritism and even the perception of favoritism. 
• Involve mentees in activities that best match their career path. Keep an eye out for workshops, meetings, and other training opportunities that would prepare them to move forward in their chosen career path.
• Always consider that a mentor-mentee relationship automatically comes with a power imbalance. Act accordingly to achieve and maintain a healthy mentoring environment.

This guidance was adapted from the eLife Community Ambassadors Intersectionality Initiative.

We are fortunate to have partnered with hundreds of alumni as speakers and presenters, including Carol Barash, who is the founder of Story2. This platform teaches individuals to tap into the proven power and science behind storytelling. Insights include the neuroscience behind storytelling, and how it helps individuals to feel deeper and more meaningful connections. As a mentor, your stories will have a powerful impact on the development of your mentee. It can be referred to as the 3Ps, sharing at different levels depending what it feels comfortable within the context of the conversion, your personal story, your Princeton story, and your professional story.

Your Personal Story

• What were some of the family influences that may have impacted your early decisions?
• Did you have a mentor? How was your experience?
• How do you balance personal and professional life? How do you tackle challenges?
• What might you do differently if you could? 

Your Princeton Story

• What was your graduate student experience like?
• In what way did your relationship with your advisor influence your experience?
• What were some of the highlights and challenges at your time in Princeton?
• Did you participate in any student leadership or community building activities? 

Your Professional Story

• How did you become interested in your field?
• How was your transition into your professional?
• What challenges did you encounter?
• What were the core competencies that have been the hallmarks of your success?
• What are some of the hardest lessons learned, specifically those learned through failure? 

Your Connections

Next to your story and advice, one of the best gifts you can give to your mentee is your connections. Introducing your mentee to colleges or other alumni contacts is a way to broaden their circle. Also talk to your mentee about professional associations, networking groups, or other affiliations within your field. Guide them in professional etiquette and how to conduct effective informational interviews. 

Learning from a mentor is an invaluable professional experience. Your mentor guides you, shares perspective, and serves as an important member of your network. But how do you become the type of mentor who can do all of these things? A mentor who’s always there for others often seems like an impossible ideal. In this course, Dr. Ruth Gotian explores what it means to truly become a mentor who inspires others. Ruth leverages her many years as a tenured executive and professional coach to highlight the important role that mentors can play in success.

Learn about the specific roles of a mentor and the steps you can take to be effective in those roles. Get tips on how to give your mentor exactly what they need—long before they even need it. Discover the rewards of high-level sponsorship and what a good sponsor looks like in practice. Upon completing this course, you'll have the skills you need to get ready and start mentoring others for success in their professional lives.

Dr. Ruth Gotian, Ed.D, M.S., is a learning executive and performance coach. An active contributor to Forbes and Psychology Today, Ruth serves as a leadership coach and professional consultant with a proven track record of achievements and success. Her work has been recognized by the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches program and featured in the "Top 30 Management Thinkers in the World to Watch Radar List" by Thinkers50.

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