Jeremy Foote
he/him
Assistant Professor at Purdue

Improving Mentorship Networks

Some initial ideas

Graduate mentorship fails in a lot of ways

  • Advisor/advisee incentives are not always aligned
  • Power imbalances result in abuse
  • Much of the problem lies with systems (e.g., grant-funded research, a broken immigration system, etc.)

Good mentorship is multifaceted

  • Two main components of good mentorship:
    • Instrumental: information, resources, etc.
    • Psychosocial: support, encouragement, etc.

There are different approaches to improving mentorship

  • Most focus on teaching advisors
  • Or on teaching mentees how to find new mentors

Intentional network structures can help support good mentorship

  • These approaches ignore the meso-level structure of mentorship
    • Students are embedded in networks of peers and mentors

    Network theory suggests a connection between network structures and mentorship facets

    Bonding capital: tight-knit groups that provide psychosocial support

    Bridging capital: access to diverse information and resources

    The plan

    • Collect data about the ego networks of graduate students in engineering
    • Look for correlations between network structure and instrumental / psychosocial outcomes
    • Design and implement interventions to improve bridging and/or bonding capital

    Stuff I like (if time)

    • Kids
    • Nature
    • Bouldering (badly)
    • Soccer (Go USA!)
    • Ants