Keeping up with the Times: Equity Issue is Now Added to Our Self‐Reflection Worksheet for Improving Scientific Mentoring

摘要

Mentoring is a core activity for many scientists, and yet few of us have had any formal training in how to do it well. Most of us plod along, subconsciously drawing on our own experiences of having been mentored in the past, and relying on “learning by our mistakes.” Formal reflections on the goals of mentoring, and how they can best be achieved, are rare in the literature, and yet mentoring is a fundamental process not just in the scientific training of young researchers, but also in their personal development and in building the social fabric of the scientific community. Some years ago, my colleagues Val Eviner, Sarah Hobbie, and I surveyed the mentees of Professor Terry Chapin and developed a synthesis entitled “The qualities and impacts of a great mentor — and how to improve your own mentoring.” It was originally published in the ESA Bulletin 94(2), April 2013, pages 170–176.