ABSTRACT
Mentorships with talented graduate students constitute one of the genuine delights of graduate school teaching. This chapter considers the prevalence of mentoring and some obstacles to getting mentored in graduate school. It summarizes some salient needs and stressors experienced by graduate students and outlines some particularly relevant mentoring functions for graduate school faculty. The chapter considers the range of formats and options for mentoring in graduate programs. It offers clear descriptions of each of the primary mentorship functions, certain qualities of successful graduate school mentorships. An excellent adjunct to individual mentorship is group or team mentoring. In addition to traditional and team-oriented mentoring, many graduate programs promote informal or formalized systems of peer mentoring. Peer mentoring program outcomes indicate that peer mentors are especially important when it comes to introducing new graduate students to the department and institution, providing advice and information, normalizing stressors, offering emotional support, and serving as role models.
