Resources for Faculty & Staff

Dr. Samuel Brunk, Professor of History, recommends mentors allow their protégés to largely define the mentoring relationship based on their needs. He recommends mentors:

• Be available when the mentee needs support;
• Listen calmly and sympathetically; and
• Focus on the discipline’s fundamentals, in his case, sound historical research and interpretation and logical, accessible writing.

"This approach is a very individualized one, better for some disciplines than others," Sam adds; "It it can only work if there is a programmatic safety net for students who may not seek help when they need it."

Dr. Fernanda Wagstaff, Associate Professor of Management, discussed meta-analytic results of current research on mentoring relationships. Drawing from supported hypotheses, she centered her discussion on four topics: protégés, mentors, mentoring relationships, and the management of mentoring programs. 

Supported hypotheses related to protégés

• Protégé proactivity associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014) (Kammeyer Mueller & Judge, 2008)
• Protégé emotional intelligence positively associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014)
• Protégé self-monitoring associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014)
• Protégé learning goal orientation associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014)

Supported hypotheses related to mentors

• Providing mentoring positively relates to subjective career outcomes (personal satisfaction and exhilaration from the fresh energy and perspectives provided by protégés, and a deeper sense of purpose and belonging to their organizations). (Ghosh & Reio, 2013)
• Mentor’s learning goal orientation associates with mentoring support (Ghosh & Reio, 2013)

Process issues in mentoring relationships

• Self-disclosure in a mentoring dyad positively associates with mentoring support (Gosh, 2014)
• Trust (both cognition and affect based) in a mentoring dyad positively associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014)

Management of mentoring programs

• Perceived similarity in a mentoring dyad positively associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014)
• Compared to formal mentoring, informal mentoring positively associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014)
• Perceived organizational support positively associates with mentoring support. (Gosh, 2014)

Implications for practice

These robust findings, says Fernanda, have important implications for practice at the individual/dyadic level (i.e., mentors / mentees), at the programmatic level (e.g., our PhD program), and at the organizational level (i.e., Graduate School and UTEP). At the individual level, protégés should strive to be proactive, emotionally intelligent, and focused on learning. On the other hand, faculty members should take mentoring seriously—not just because it's the right thing to do—but because mentoring contributes to both protégé and mentor success. At the programmatic level, we should continue securing opportunities to develop a variety of skills, strategies, and techniques in our students, including proactivity, emotional intelligence, and learning goal orientation. Finally, the University should continue providing institutional support focused on fomenting a culture of mentoring. This annual mentoring award and reception signals the relevance of mentoring relationships for UTEP.

"Mentoring," she concludes, "improves both our UTEP community and the community of El Paso by tapping into one of the two pillars of our institution: Excellence."

Works Cited:
Ghosh, R. (2014). "Antecedents of mentoring support: a meta-analysis of individual, relational, and structural or organizational factors," Journal of Vocational Behavior,  84 (3), 367-384.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.02.009
Ghosh, R. & Reio, (2013). Ghosh, R., & Reio, T. G. (2013). Career benefits associated with mentoring for mentors: A meta-analysis.  Journal of Vocational Behavior,   83 (1), 106-116. https://doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2013.03.011
Kammeyer Mueller & Judge, 2008.  Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., & Judge, T. A. (2008). A quantitative review of mentoring research: Test of a model.  Journal of Vocational Behavior,   72 (3), 269-283. https://doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2007.09.006

Other Works Consulted:
DeLong, T. J., Gabarro, J. J., & Lees, R. J. (2008, January 1). Why Mentoring Matters in a Hypercompetitive World. https://hbr.org/2008/01/why-mentoring-matters-in-a-hypercompetitive-world
Clutterbuck, D., & Megginson, D. (2012). Making coaching work: Creating a coaching culture. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 
Meister, J. C., & Willyerd, K. (2010, May 1). Mentoring Millennials. https://hbr.org/2010/05/mentoring-millennials

As Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Materials at Extremes Research Group (MERG), Dr. Calvin Stewart mentors a team of undergraduate and graduate researchers. He recommends mentors:

• Have frequent informal conversations and semesterly retreats to build your team;
• Stay relevant by continually reflecting on what works (and doesn't) for your students; and
• Focus on helping students develop their professional and research skills.

To achieve that last goal, he requires his protégés to read:

Calvin  also maintains a manual for his team, which lays out the attributes of a scientist, funding opportunities, team operations, and details associated with producing research papers:

MERG Team Manual