Ivan J. Dmochowski

Graduate Mentoring Challenges. The University of Pennsylvania attracts graduate students from all 50 states, and from many countries around the world. The students who matriculate bring exceptional talent and motivation. We also know that many students arrive at Penn with personal challenges. Sometimes this involves chronic illness, depression, economic hardship, prior experiences of religious persecution, sexism, racism, or unfamiliarity with urban living. Graduate students are also confronting the realization that becoming an independent researcher is a long, arduous and indefinite process.

One of our goals as mentors is to help students to navigate these challenges to reach their full potential. In the United States, attrition rates for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities range from 36 to 51%. Research shows that the student-advisor relationship and the quality of mentoring are major contributing factors to attrition rates. 

Recognizing Opportunities. It is worth asking, can we adopt practices to help students to thrive in graduate school, and obtain the skills they need to contribute meaningfully to their chosen profession? The PhD degree is a valuable credential for many careers, especially when graduates excel with independent critical thinking, and they have a full complement of academic and life skills.

Penn’s Guidelines for Responsible Conduct of Research for Principal Investigators remind us to “be honest, fair, and set clear expectations and help develop interpersonal professional skills.” Can we meet these directives and then aim higher as mentors? In my experience, small tweaks in mentoring style to fit individual student needs can pay huge dividends. 

Building Rapport. First, I try to understand what motivates students. Why are they in graduate school? What do they hope to accomplish after they graduate? These conversations are facilitated by students completing an annual individual development plan (IDP), as recommended by the National Institutes of Health. I try to understand with students, what are their strengths and weaknesses? Have they enjoyed certain types of research projects in the past? Do they have skills that they are keen to build upon? Are there personal struggles that make graduate school especially difficult? (As mentors, we don’t probe for the details of these struggles, but being able to mention their existence can be extremely helpful in navigating the student-advisor relationship). Graduate students sometimes need services, ranging from therapists, divorce lawyers, loan managers, visa and immigration specialists, to automobile mechanics, police and healthcare. Although most students find these auxiliary services on their own, they appreciate awareness and caring. I check in with students about the stresses they are managing. 

Growing and Progressing. Having established rapport with my mentees, I try to help them to develop research projects that are well-suited to their interests and abilities. Typically, this involves a new student being co-mentored by a senior student who has had success in publishing their work. By the time their student mentor graduates, mentees start to take ownership of their research project and they may extend it in new directions. One of our tasks as mentors is to help students to assess risks, and to navigate the competitive landscape that comes from other scholars in the field. Students benefit from face-to-face meetings at regular intervals, where we both do work in preparation. Progress is sometimes slow, more observable on month timescales. To make progress feel more tangible, students can generate an outline of their manuscript-in-progress, and present updates weekly using color codes for completed tasks (green), in-progress (yellow), and upcoming (red). We work together to turn the page green! Eventually, these mentees, too, become student mentors.

Group Ethos. In early conversations with students, I establish my own expectations. Students need to make strong efforts to be productive, which usually requires structuring work activities at least one to two weeks ahead and frequent literature reading. I point out when I think students should be “working smarter.” I do not keep track of student hours, and this only becomes a subject for discussion when productivity is lagging. Occasionally, greater interventions are needed when someone is exhibiting antisocial behavior, or my team feels sluggish and in need of a pep-talk. Some students require formal one-on-one conversations involving behavior modification, but this is rare in my experience. Much more enjoyable are the several fun group activities each year, which give me opportunities to show students that I value their contributions. We have fun together, and it is rewarding to see students forming life-long friendships.

Celebrating Individuals. As mentors we have the power over several years to help students to personalize their graduate educational experience. In many of our fields, there are career opportunities in vastly different domains. In my own field of chemistry, these options range from law, policy, education, and journalism to research careers across academia, industry, and government. Penn has centers of excellence where students can burnish their skills in writing, teaching, service, intellectual property law, entrepreneurship, and also internships to professionalize their experience. I make sure that mentees are aware of these resources, while letting them pursue their own path. I have referred students to trusted friends who have relevant experiences to share. I intervene as a mentor when I feel that students are losing motivation or starting to wander unproductively (some wandering is valuable!). I strongly espouse the value of a growth mindset so students are comfortable to share and receive constructive feedback. This is helped by sharing with students some of my own challenges, failures, and examples of resiliency. If asked for advice, I try to help students to consider the pros and cons of the paths they are considering, and offer heartfelt encouragement (never judgement).

Value in Self-Reflection. I have learned from my own exemplars that we can be stellar mentors without being expert in all facets of mentoring. Knowing as mentors that we have deficits (and also blind spots!), we should be cognizant of the tasks that come naturally to us and use these skills to students’ best advantage. Here are some questions that I challenge myself to consider:

• Can I share my love of writing with students and edit their work in a timely fashion?
• Am I introducing students to key scholars in their field?
• Do I impart quantitative and technical skills to students? Are there additional skills that mentees require?
• Do I have “difficult conversations” with students when warranted?
• Do I engage mentees in writing proposals?
• Do I mediate conflicts and create positive group dynamics?
• Do my relationships and hobbies demonstrate work-life balance?
• Am I sharing with students a compelling vision of the future?
• Do I engage students in reviewing manuscripts?
• Do I help mentees to attend conferences and gain speaking opportunities?
• Am I raising funds so students can access necessary equipment and research materials?

Concluding Thoughts. I have enjoyed mentoring graduate students at Penn for more than two decades. The world has clearly changed, as have the graduate students at Penn. But, I believe that many aspects of successful graduate mentoring, as considered above, have remained the same. Twenty-six mentees have graduated with PhDs, a nearly 100% completion rate. More importantly, they have figured out for themselves what path they want to pursue and are succeeding in many different domains. As we advance in our careers, I think we can continue to improve in helping students pursue research and professional development opportunities that are aligned with their abilities and aspirations. I have learned much from my Penn colleagues in this area, and there is endless opportunity for collaboration and co-mentoring.

Ivan J. Dmochowski is the Alan MacDiarmid Term Professor of Chemistry in the School of Arts & Sciences.

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This essay continues the series that began in the fall of 1994 as the joint creation of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Lindback Society for Distinguished Teaching. 

See https://almanac.upenn.edu/talk-about-teaching-and-learning-archive for previous essays.