Institutional Barriers: Implementing Effective Mentoring Practices
02/18/21 • 15 min
Students’ mentoring experiences are shaped by the mentorship skills of their mentors. However, if academic institutions lack commitment to implementing successful mentoring practices, faculty members often struggle to support their mentees.
Biochemist Dr. Keith Yamamoto had positive mentoring experiences during his undergraduate and graduate careers where his mentors consistently guided and helped him develop independence in the field. But when he became a professor, he initially struggled to effectively mentor his students. In this episode, Dr. Yamamoto shares key moments of how he learned what tendencies can damage mentoring experiences, the skills that contribute to positive mentorships, and how academic institutions can implement more successful mentoring practices.
Dr. Keith Yamamoto is a professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at University of California, San Francisco. He also serves as the vice chancellor for science policy and strategy, and as the director of precision medicine at UCSF. Dr. Yamamoto has worked on several national committees that focus on public and scientific policy. In 1990, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2003, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine.
To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring.
Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Students’ mentoring experiences are shaped by the mentorship skills of their mentors. However, if academic institutions lack commitment to implementing successful mentoring practices, faculty members often struggle to support their mentees.
Biochemist Dr. Keith Yamamoto had positive mentoring experiences during his undergraduate and graduate careers where his mentors consistently guided and helped him develop independence in the field. But when he became a professor, he initially struggled to effectively mentor his students. In this episode, Dr. Yamamoto shares key moments of how he learned what tendencies can damage mentoring experiences, the skills that contribute to positive mentorships, and how academic institutions can implement more successful mentoring practices.
Dr. Keith Yamamoto is a professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at University of California, San Francisco. He also serves as the vice chancellor for science policy and strategy, and as the director of precision medicine at UCSF. Dr. Yamamoto has worked on several national committees that focus on public and scientific policy. In 1990, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2003, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine.
To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring.
Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Previous Episode
Go Further: Guiding Discovery of Passions
Entering the academic ecosystem can be especially daunting for students with underrepresented identities. These students can face a different set of obstacles when making decisions on higher education and careers. Dr. Jim Gates faced this reality on his path to becoming a physicist. Looking back on his journey, Professor Gates understands that he couldn’t pursue his dreams without support.
Theoretical physicist Dr. Jim Gates was often the only African-American in the physics departments in which he worked and learned. In this episode, he tells his story of discovering his passion in physics and how effective mentors throughout his life supported him through what could’ve been insurmountable obstacles. Professor Gates also shares how important it is to actively seek mentors, the impact of culturally responsive mentoring, and what mentoring skills he uses most today.
Professor Gates is known for his groundbreaking work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. In 1977, he received his Ph.D from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the only African American in his cohort, where he gave the first doctoral thesis to explore supersymmetry. In 2013, Dr. Gates was elected into the National Academy of Sciences and was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama.
To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring.
Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Next Episode
Expectations: Acknowledging The Power We Hold
In academic institutions, faculty hold power over their students. However, this power often goes unacknowledged. Dr. Kate Clancy found that students can experience negative mentoring experiences when there is a lack of expectations set on faculty and coercive power goes unchecked.
Biological anthropologist Dr. Kate Clancy shares her experience of observing gaps within the mentoring ecosystem, then taking action to create more inclusive spaces for both students and faculty in higher education. In this episode, Dr. Clancy discusses the coercive power in STEMM ecosystems, how confirmation bias negatively affects mentoring, and what faculty and students can do to create more effective mentoring relationships.
Dr. Kate Clancy is an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois. Her research focuses on intersectional feminist biology with specific focus on gender and racial harassment in science and the effects of environmental stressors on endometrial and ovarian dynamics. Dr. Clancy has given congressional testimony on sexual misconduct in the sciences, has consulted on two Congressional bills on sexual harassment in science, and has co-authored a National Academies report on sexual harassment of women in STEM.
To learn more about the Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM report, and for a guide to implementing best practices at your institution, visit NAS.edu/mentoring.
Brought to you by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/the-science-of-mentorship-681188/institutional-barriers-implementing-effective-mentoring-practices-89733570"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to institutional barriers: implementing effective mentoring practices on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy