In developing the ACADEME Mentoring HUB, the team thought a lot about what people consider mentoring to be. Mentoring can be different based on the definition someone associates with it and is further complicated by the fact that what is expected or needed can also change based on stage of career. As faculty with careers based in science, engineering, and research, the first step was to have everyone on the same page as to what we mean by mentoring. To do that, we turned to reputable literature for the initial definitions before finalizing what we meant by ‘mentoring.’ Shown below are the most common terms associated with mentoring in engineering.

  • Mentor

    A mentor is someone that teaches, sponsors, encourages, counsels less skilled or less experienced person for promoting their professional development. This relationship may or may not include psychosocial support (Liu et al., 2019; Mullen and Klimaitis, 2021; Saffe 2020; Sanczyk et al., 2021; Sowers et al., 2017; Suiter et al., 2024; Anderson et al., 2023; Thorne et al., 2021;Tenorio-Lopes, 2023)

  • Psychosocial support

    Psychosocial support is providing someone to help with their feelings of belonging, and increase their self-efficacy. (Eby et al., 2006; Liu et al., 2019; Mullen and Klimaitis, 2021; Suiter et al., 2024). It may involve encouragement, friendship, unconditional acceptance, serving as a role model, or counseling (Arora et al., 2015; Schill and Bielefeldt, 2020; Waters 2004). In this context, counseling is viewed as giving advice outside of work related issues.

  • Faculty Advisor

    A Faculty Advisor is a faculty member that guides the academic progress of a student.  This relationship can include providing direction, setting the standards for discipline, and helping to troubleshoot research projects (Blake-Beard et al., 2011; Hund et al., 2018; Sanczyk et al., 2021).

  • Peer Mentor

    A Peer Mentor is a  mentor close to the age and/or position as the mentee (Ilieva-Koleva 2015; Tenenbaum et al., 2014; Zevallos and Washburn, 2014).

  • Post-doctoral/Research Mentor

    A Post-doctoral/Research Mentor will guide and supervise the progress of a trainee (Bahnson et al., 2024). Primary focus is providing instruction to develop specific research skills. 

  • Coach

    A coach is someone that works with learner to evaluate performance, identify needs, create a plan, and help the learner to be accountable (Alsen et al., 2021; Deiorio et al., 2017; Hussey and Campbell-Meier, 2021; Warren 2019). Coaching has very specific, short-term task(s) to help someone develop particular skills, but not necessarily beyond the skill or how the skills come together.

  • Academic Role Model

    An Academic Role Model is someone who sets a good example by scholarly attributes, achievements, and personal characteristics (Olson and Nayar-Bhalerao, 2020; Uslu 2020)

Often early to mid-career academics will seek out ‘mentoring’ to help find their first job, secure reappointment, and eventually, tenure. Even after tenure, one may need coaching or mentoring for the next stages of their career. Thus, mentoring is an aspect of all stages of an academic career.  For the purposes of the ACADEME Mentor Hub, a mentoring relationship is defined as a:

long-term (> one year) relationship to develop one’s future career path. The specific skills needed may be unknown at the start of the relationship and may require other mentors or outside coaches.

Although mentors provide different levels of acceptance, psychosocial support that leans towards unconditional acceptance, required friendship, or counseling will not be a requirement of ACADEME mentors.

For a full list of the references supporting this page, please see our publications