Lessons From the Field: Graduate Student–Faculty Mentoring in Family Science

• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Author: Lindsey Almond,Laura Parson,Jessica Resor
• Date: 01 December 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12517

L AAuburn University

L PNorth Dakota State University

J RVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Lessons From the Field: Graduate Student–Faculty

Mentoring in Family Science

Objective: We examine research related to

effective mentoring relationships for graduate

students.

Background: Graduate mentoring, comprising

educational, professional, and psychosocial

development, plays a crucial role in graduate

students’ successful completion of their degrees.

Effective mentor relationships can increase

academic satisfaction, increase retention, keep

graduate students on time to graduate, and have

positive inuences on future career goals.

Methods: We conducted a literature review of

14 articles to examine graduate mentoring and

make recommendations for family science grad-

uate education.

Results: Five major themes emerged: aspects of

effective mentorships, choosing a mentor, char-

acteristics of a successful mentor, diverse grad-

uate students, and online mentoring.

Conclusions: We discuss future research sug-

gestions including the need for research on

discipline-specic mentoring and the call for

more writings on the scholarshipof teaching and

learning.

Implications: These ndings have implica-

tions for family science as organizations create

210 Spidle Hall Auburn, Alabama 36849, Attn: Lindsey

Almond, Department of Human Development and Family

Studies, Auburn University (lla0009@auburn.edu).

Key Words: family science, graduate, higher education,

literature review, mentoring.

mentoring approaches, universities increase

remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic,

and diversity remains important in the eld.

Comprising educational, professional, and psy-

chosocial development (Kumar et al., 2013),

academic mentoring plays a crucial role in

graduate students’ successful completion of

their degrees. Although graduate-level men-

toring scarcely has been researched (Barnes

et al., 2012), attention to mentorship is grow-

ing throughout higher education and within

family science. Thus, this article’s purpose

is to analyze recent literature on graduate

student–faculty mentoring to make recom-

mendations related to family science graduate

education. We reviewed literature across disci-

plines and family science-specic literature to

demonstrate both the overarching importance of

mentoring and how family science mentoring is

unique given the eld’s characteristics.

Graduate Mentoring

The predominant purpose of the graduate

student–faculty mentor relationship is to accom-

plish goals and achieve academic growth for the

mentee (Brill et al., 2014). Mentors can help

graduate students accomplish their goals by

guiding them into the academic community and

helping them to develop a professional network

(Kumar et al., 2013; Yob & Crawford. 2012).

1600Family Relations 70 (December 2021): 1600–1611

DOI:10.1111/fare.12517