The ultimate goal of most mentoring situations is to enable the mentee to identify and achieve some academic and professional outcomes after the training period. Along the way, there are many objectives to be achieved, all of which must be consciously considered so they do not get lost or forgotten. While non-research professional development activities are sometimes seen as distractions from the core business of doing research, they are often critically important to identifying and successfully meeting the mentee’s long-term career objectives. Therefore, it is important to recognize and promote relevant professional development opportunities for mentees.
Learning Objectives for Promoting Professional Development
- Identify the roles mentors play in the overall professional development of their mentees
- Develop a strategy for guiding professional development using a written document
- Initiate and sustain periodic conversations with mentees on professional goals and career development objectives and strategies
- Engage in open dialogue on balancing the competing demands, needs, and interests of mentors and mentees, e.g., research productivity, grant funding, creativity and independence, career preference decisions, non-research activities, personal development, work-family balance, etc.
Readings/Activities to complete before the Session
note: links are to PDF files that may either display in your browser or download, depending on your settings
- Professional Development Case Study
- IDP Examples (this file contains many different sample IDPs for trainees at all stages)