Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering

by National Academy of Engineering, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Policy and Global Affairs

This guide offers helpful advice on how teachers, administrators, and career advisors in science and engineering can become better mentors to their students. It starts with the premise that a successful mentor helps students in a variety of ways: by helping them get the most from their educational experience, by introducing them to and making them comfortable with a specific disciplinary culture, and by offering assistance with the search for suitable employment. Other topics covered in the guide include career planning, time management and professional development, responsible scientific conduct, and writing. Also included is a valuable list of bibliographical and Internet resources on mentoring and related topics.

Genres: Teaching

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, quick intro (68 pages of writing) to some general but important considerations in mentoring students from undergrads to postdocs. Doesn't delve too deep into any areas, but does highlight many things that are important advice to mentors, especially those who didn't see some of these good practices modeled by their own mentors.

Some advice is a bit dated now (published in 1997, this review written in 2022) and there's (consequently) a glaring gap when it comes to the digital world, but much of the advice is evergreen and the book is still worth an afternoon read.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Advice and recommendations are generally applicable to non-STEM fields; Points are very basic however - if you have ever thought about mentoring, you have probably thought of everything in here

[Darin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very simple book on what I thought a very important topic. Sadly, the few suggestions don't offer much help (I'm viewing this as an Assistant Professor mentoring graduate students and post-docs), still....you can read it in a day at most.