Research Supports the Value of Mentoring

A group mentoring program was found to support the development of professional identity among participants, in particular their sense of having a “calling” to their profession.²

Results from a meta-analysis of mentoring in organizations indicated that the number of promotions was higher for mentored individuals than for non-mentored individuals.⁴

Compared to controls, junior faculty members who completed a 7-month structured mentoring program were significantly more confident in all professional academic skills areas: professional development, research, education, and administration.³

A meta-analysis of mentoring in organizations found that mentored individuals were more satisfied with their careers, more likely to believe they would advance in their career, and more likely to be committed to their career than were their non-mentored counterparts.⁴

A survey of graduates of business management programs found that having a mentor was significantly related to lower levels of work-family conflict. The most significant predictor of reduced work-family conflict was having a mentor who was supportive of the mentee’s desires to balance work and family roles.⁵

Compared to non-mentored faculty, new faculty who were mentored felt more connected to their work environments, had a greater sense of ownership in their departments, and more frequently received information about work expectations in research, teaching, and service.⁶

In a cross-sectional survey of faculty, having a mentor—and preferably, multiple mentors—was strongly related to overall job satisfaction.⁷

Among medical school faculty, having (or having had) a formally designated mentor was a significant predictor of high research productivity, second only to the faculty member being “internally driven to conduct research.”⁸

Graduated primary care research fellows who reported having had an “influential” mentor (self-defined by respondents) subsequently spent more time conducting research, published more papers, and were more likely to be principal investigator on a grant than those without an influential mentor during their fellowship training.⁹

Junior faculty members with mentors had higher mean scores for academic self-efficacy—e.g., in identifying professional goals and interests, identifying requirements for advancement and promotion—than did junior faculty members without mentors.¹⁰

Participants in a junior faculty development program that included structured mentoring were 67% more likely to remain at their institution than were nonparticipating faculty.¹¹

Among a sample of faculty in financial management, mentoring was positively and significantly related to salary levels and satisfaction with their promotion/tenure progress.¹²

Perceived collegiality of the mentor–mentee relationship and time spent communicating with a mentor were significantly associated with the career satisfaction of clinical researchers supported by NIH career development awards.¹³

Pathway analyses of data from graduate students and postdoctoral fellows demonstrated that the positive effects of mentoring on trainees’ commitment to a scientific career were fully mediated by several key psychological factors, including “science self-efficacy” and “identity as a scientist.”¹⁴