Tufts Postdoctoral Association Blog

How to be a good faculty mentor

Posted on May 18, 2016

Looking to transition into academia? How can you really become a good mentor to your students and postdocs? Read on for advice from Laura Olsen from the University of Michigan from the NextProf Science 2016 Conference!

You are no longer a grad student, you are the boss

• You need to keep an emotional distance and not take the behavior of students personally.  They are not your friends
• Keep the lines of communication clear
  • If there are difficulties, keep trying

When you’re a new faculty member

• choose graduate students slowly and carefully
• don’t take on too much too quickly
• give new grad students a small project to call their own
• recognize talented students and let them innovate and work more independently

Characteristics of a good mentor

• tell students you don’t have favorites
• tell your lab to be honest when talking to others
• be inclusive
• be respectful and be open to communication
• be aware of your reputation
  • some times being shy or introverted can be mistaken for being aloof or standoffish
• start your managerial training early
• be willing to receive feedback
• be open to new ideas
• be willing to admit your wrong
• support the interests of your students
  • offer your students and postdocs multiple mentors
  • seek multiple mentors of your own
  • offer the opportunity to network at non-academic conferences if that matches the interests of your students
• recognize and proactively address personality conflicts

Charactersitics of a bad mentor

• being rigid in
• pushing students to be “mini-me”
• using a one sir
• non-constructive feedback
• not give credit/acknowledging contributions to students
• being a yes person
• being patronizing (often a sign of insecurity!)
• not recognizing a need for work-lie balance

How to select good candidates

Undergraduates:

• Teach introductory classes and select students
• Interview students for UROPs

Graduate students:

• Offer to be on graduate student recruitment committees- speak to your chair
• Reach out proactively and offer to help write fellowships