are not sure what advice or topics of conversation might be helpful. This book can provide a mechanism for identifying questions that need to be discussed or structuring a series of mentoring interactions. This book is organized according to six key components of professional development:
• Tough Questions About Why You Are Here
• Joining Your Department and Discipline
• Establishing Expertise
• Developing Networks, Relationships, and Mentoring Activities
• Getting Support and Evaluating Your Personal Health
• Planning for the Future
Some people have successfully implemented the book in their mentoring relationship by addressing each section at a monthly meeting, while others have used the book to prompt discussion on topic areas of immediate interest to the mentee. An index is provided at the end of the book to facilitate consultation on a specific topic.
Because not every question will apply to your mentee, part of your job will be to help them decide which ones are important to focus on and at which stage in their career development they should be addressed. Use this book as a resource, recognizing that differences in the practices of a particular field or the emphasis of a particular institution will determine which questions are relevant. Your experience is the key ingredient to making the mentoring relationship work.
Mentoring relationships come is various forms and have different levels of formality and expectations. The term “mentor” also means different things to different people. To some, it connotes teacher, advisor, and counselor, while to others, there is a either a deep friendship implied or a substantial power relationship at play. Mentees may be looking for different things from their mentor. For instance, you may be expected to provide positive and constructive feedback, understanding and empathy, encouragement and nurturing, and assistance in developing networks. Before embarking on a new mentoring relationship, however, you need to ask yourself which roles do you feel comfortable fulfilling and what time commitment you can give to the mentoring relationship. There may also be an added complexity to the relationship because you may also have to fulfill an evaluation role with a particular mentee. This potential source of conflict should be addressed up front.
Unless it is a brief and fleeting interaction, you should make a point to discuss the parameters of the mentoring relationship with your mentee. There are a number of questions you should consider: How much time can you each devote? How frequently should you plan to meet? Will you do all of your mentoring in person, or are phone and email exchanges also useful? On which topics do you feel comfortable mentoring that fall within the needs of your mentee? Can you develop a productive and non-threatening relationship? How does the mentee best take criticism and constructive feedback? Will it be beneficial for you to create a mentoring plan that you will enact over time?
Wendy C. Crone
August 2010
I recall wanting to be a professor as early as grade school after visiting the small college where the mother of one of my friends was on the faculty. Early in my graduate school career, I became disillusioned with this goal as I saw more of the day to day realities of faculty life. After some experience with a variety of academic institutions, however, I learned that faculty positions differ from institution to institution and even from position to position within the same department. This was a wonderful realization. It helped me to rekindle my old dream, and it helped me to identify the type of institution I would be happy in. Because of this and later experiences, I believe that institutional fit is a critical component to happiness in a faculty position.
CHAPTER 1
Tough Questions About Why You Are Here
Occasionally, in life, one stops, looks around, and wonders - how did I get here? Many faculty chose an academic path early in life, but there are also some who come upon academic life later or by accident. Most assistant professors fall into one of two categories: those who are already committed to this career path or those who are still exploring a variety of opportunities. Regardless of which category into which one falls, it is important to stop, look around, and engage in self-assessment regularly.
Don’t wait until you face an obstacle or setback; a time of crisis may not be the best point to question the path you have chosen. However, careful planning may allow you to smooth the path and avoid the obstacles in the first place. Planning and self-assessment are important ingredients for a successful career.
With any career choice there are a number of things one must compromise in the rest of our lives in order to do the job successfully. Don’t continue blindly without reflection, or just because you had already set yourself on this path. The job of an assistant professor in today’s academic environment is challenging! There are difficulties your more senior colleagues may not have had to face. So, at least once in the early stages of your adventure, stop, look around, and ask yourself - why am I here? Your answer to this question may reenergize you and recommit you to the challenge you have taken up or it may prompt you to consider a different path.
This section breaks down the very broad question of, “Why am I here?” into more manageable bites. These are not all the possible questions, simply a set to help get you started. Strategy we will pursue throughout this book begins with overarching questions to consider, followed by mentoring conversation essays to reflect on, and then detailed questions and suggestions to address by yourself and with you mentors. Do not expect to have all the answers to the questions being posed. The big answers to the big questions may only come with time, and reflection, and through discussion with your trusted colleagues and advisors.
Read and reflect on the questions below individually or as with one of your mentors. Make some notes. Identify more questions of your own. Select some for discussion with your mentor.
1.1 ASSESSING THE FIT
1.1.1 OVERARCHING QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
• What career paths do you envision for your future?
• Is your current institution the place you would like to spend your career?
• What is your back up plan if tenure is not in the cards?
1.1.2 MENTORING CONVERSATION: ON INSTITUTIONAL FIT
An academic career may not be the right choice for everyone, but I would argue that within academia there is such a wide range of options so that one can often find a good fit. I frequently have conversations with graduate students and post docs about what might be the right choice for them. In some cases, a student will bluntly say, “I don’t want your kind of job.” For a variety of reasons they have decided that what they see me spending my time on as a faculty member at a big research university is not what they want to do with their life. (On some days, I might agree with them myself.)
Although I don’t try to push every student towards an academic career, I do want them to realize that not every job in academia looks like mine. Not only are there a number of different types of institutions (Doctorate-granting Universities, Master’s Colleges and Universities, Baccalaureate Colleges, Associate’s Colleges, Special Focus Institutions, and Tribal Colleges)1, they each have different personalities (as a result of their public vs. private nature, or religious affiliation for instance), and there are different positions both on and off the tenure track. Depending on a person’s interests and long term goals, they may be more interested in an instructor or laboratory coordinator
