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Description
Most commentaries and empirical investigations on mentorship have focused on academic and professional outcomes to date. Drawing on literature from various areas of mentorship, we propose an approach of effective mentorship based on caring and compassion for personal aspects of young adult mentees. As such, we outline characteristics of a successful mentor for undergraduates and provide suggestions for hiring considerations and research.
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Young adults entering college confront a myriad of social, academic, and psychological challenges. College students face pressures to achieve, become active on campus, and explore social groups, often while coping with being away from loved ones for the first time. Although many students make the transition successfully, some fall prey to anxiety, depression, and alcohol and substance abuse.
University instructors have a unique opportunity to serve as personal connections, informational resources, and professional role models for young adults. The role of mentor is an often overlooked, yet invaluable, aspect of faculty jobs. Indeed, freshmen assigned to mentors show greater gains in problem solving, goal setting, and decision making compared to their non-mentored counterparts (Cosgrove, 1986). Faculty mentorship programs have also been positively associated with effective college transitioning, bolstered college self-efficacy and happiness in a higher education setting (Santos & Reigadas, 2002), as well as improved research skills (Kardash, 2000).
Although the need for mentors is clear, the exact role of mentors on college campuses is far more complex. Most mentorship models focus solely on the development of professional or academic skills (e.g., Kardash, 2000; Pfund, Pribbenow, Branchaw, Lauffer, & Handelsman, 2006; Walker & LeBoldus, 1993), and often pertain only to graduate students (e.g., Cesa & Fraser, 1989; Zvolensky, Herschell, & McNeil, 2000). Although these models appear largely successful, they may not apply to the broader scope of issues experienced by undergraduates Therefore, we propose that mentorship of undergraduates involves more than a typical apprenticeship model in which a professor or researcher guides a student/trainee through academic material or research design, respectively. Rather, successful mentorship of young adults requires adoption of the notion of "cura personalis" or caring for the whole person. Mentoring of young undergraduate adults from such a perspective can facilitate remarkable outcomes.
In the following sections, we outline qualities of the successful mentor drawn from empirical literature in other areas of mentorship (e.g., mentorship of graduate students) and personal experiences. We additionally offer recommendations for future advancement of mentorship of young adults. Although we acknowledge a paucity of empirical data to support some of the proposed characteristics of effective undergraduate mentorship, we should note that this discussion represents one of the first efforts to articulate a compassion-based mentorship model above and beyond those with goals of academic or professional training.
Available
In a sample of general internists, Luckhaupt et al. (2005) reported that mentorship is most effective when done in person. Likewise, availability has been cited as a pivotal factor to seek in mentors (Haack & Smith, 2000) and maintain reciprocal mentor-mentee relationships (Glazer & Hannafin, 2005). This principle applies to undergraduates especially. At a time when many college students have feelings of isolation, face-to-face availability is crucial. A faculty member can convey availability by in-class and syllabus statements, having an open door policy, being visible in the department and on campus, and using small time slots before and after class to get... |
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