tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post2659516994262478458..comments2024-03-12T03:23:42.976-04:00Comments on NeuroDojo: Mentoring in a minute?Zen Faulkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-33966273672368569582012-07-29T10:25:37.504-04:002012-07-29T10:25:37.504-04:00Are 'sulky undergrads' really a problem? I...Are 'sulky undergrads' really a problem? I've only interacted with pretty enthusiastic, ready to try anything types.TheCellularScalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18379669883853001278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-76195485363757132752012-07-28T09:06:25.929-04:002012-07-28T09:06:25.929-04:00Lauren: Yup. I’m not saying mentoring can’t be don...Lauren: Yup. I’m not saying mentoring can’t be done in less time than a year. I’ve seen examples where mentoring relationships were established in less time. <br /><br />And I'm certainly not saying that a year of contact guarantees a mentoring relationship. I've had students I worked with for that long that I don't think of myself as a mentor to them and I’m pretty sure the reverse is also true.<br /><br />But where I think I've truly mentored that person, it’s been longer than a semester. That's has just been my experience. It may reflect the particular programs we have on our campus.Zen Faulkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-39521931247880933342012-07-28T06:15:38.839-04:002012-07-28T06:15:38.839-04:00Mentoring is indeed something else than supervisin...Mentoring is indeed something else than supervising someone. It is very hard to be a mentor to someone. Your 'styles' have to fit (how to handle difficult situations, etc), so with a lot of interactions with students you would never leave the supervision level.<br />An other side is also true though. Even if you have meaningful and longterm interaction and advice given to someone you are not automatically a mentor. Maybe someone just values your opinion on one subject. I think a mentor is someone who you trust to guide you on multiple levels. Very hard to accomplish indeed.<br /><br />LaurensNeuro Nerdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01166415732502224710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-87395251172548804672012-07-28T02:41:15.720-04:002012-07-28T02:41:15.720-04:00Grad student whose summer undergrad just left toda...Grad student whose summer undergrad just left today (*tear*) here. I guarantee he got more mentoring from me in the 8 week program than several grad students I know got from their PIs their whole first year. <br /><br />But I do definitely get your point that there is a meaningful and important distinction between mentoring and managing/ supervising. Mentoring certainly can't be just a sentence (the very notion seems silly to me), but ~1 year min sounds too long.Science Refineryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03391083965108348139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-44979338384559803482012-07-26T12:38:16.641-04:002012-07-26T12:38:16.641-04:00Katie: I certainly don't want to undervalue th...Katie: I certainly don't want to undervalue those 10 week experiences; students can learn a lot from them. But giving someone good advice is still not necessarily mentoring them. The follow-up matters. After that 10 weeks is over, does that student feel free to contact you to ask even more questions? Then yes, that has developed into a mentoring relationship.<br /><br />I agree that there is not going to be a hard line between "This is mentoring" and "This is not."Zen Faulkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-41087225949508056502012-07-26T12:14:57.177-04:002012-07-26T12:14:57.177-04:00Hm, I don't know. There are some students that...Hm, I don't know. There are some students that come in to the lab that want guidance on things like: how to apply for graduate school, is there money to do research during the school year, how do you go about designing a research experiment? Discussing these things seem like mentoring to me because the student can gain immense amounts of knowledge in a short time from someone who really cares about their future (whether that's the PI or the grad student). Even though they're only there for 10 weeks, I think mentoring can be done in that time. Ideally, of course, it would continue after they left but I don't feel like mentoring is defined as "something that lasts longer than 10 weeks".<br /><br />-katiesciAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-40009860062119295502012-07-26T09:08:40.460-04:002012-07-26T09:08:40.460-04:00You raise a good point that we should distinguish ...You raise a good point that we should distinguish between other supervisory interactions (like management) and mentoring. While I think there is a lot to be learned from being well-managed, I agree that mentoring should require a deeper relationship. It would be good for everyone to acknowledge those are different (and important) skill sets so that they can be developed.Sandlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06599700488072968433noreply@blogger.com