Graduate Student Mentoring

Whether completing a masters or doctoral program , graduate students can benefit greatly from supportive, helpful advice and assistance throughout their studies. Most academic advisors/research supervisors fulfill this role – at least they are in a position to. While many graduate students and advisors do cultivate a mentor-mentee relationship, this is not always the case. Not all academic advisors are good mentors and not all mentors are good academic advisors. Or, your advisor’s mentorship style may simply not be a good fit for you regardless of its effectiveness and quality for someone else.

If your research/academic advisor is also your mentor, that's great! For those of you for whom this is not the case then you may need to look beyond the traditional academic model of ‘student & advisor’ and expand your mentorship search a bit, or even a lot. Opportunities often abound if you are open to them, and don’t rule out the possibility of senior students acting as mentors to junior ones. Much can be gleaned from others who have recently navigated similar experiences and successfully dealt with similar challenges. That said, don’t assume that what worked for them will work for you. To merely copy or duplicate someone else’s behaviours and career pathway, or impose yours onto another, is not mentorship.