Students' Views of Mentors in Psychology Graduate Training

TLDR

The study examined how prevalent mentors are and their role in graduate training from students’ perspectives. The authors surveyed 90 graduate psychology students at a large midwestern university about mentor characteristics, roles, and reasons for lacking a mentor. More than half of students had mentors, and the main barrier to mentorship was difficulty finding a satisfactory mentor; mentors were associated with greater research productivity, and personality traits better predicted mentor quality than intellectual or professional activity.

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence and role of mentors in graduate training from the viewpoint of students. Ninety graduate psychology students from a large midwestern university responded to a survey about the characteristics of mentors, the roles mentors play in their professional and social lives, and why some students do not have a mentor. Over 50% of the respondents had mentors. Inability to find a satisfactory mentor was the predominant reason for not having one. Findings suggest that mentors serve supportive functions and promote professional productivity as indicated by research involvement, publications, and conference papers. Personality characteristics distinguish good from poor mentors much more frequently than do intellectual competence or professional activity.