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Transition from Mentee to Colleague

While both advisors and mentors provide advice and guidance, mentors maintain a much higher state of connectedness with their mentees, and over a longer period of time. Indeed, many successful associations last a lifetime. Mentoring changes over time. If it is functional, a mentoring relationship develops over different phases, depending on the needs and resources of both sides. At some point, mentor and mentee may separate and redefine their relationship; otherwise, mentoring can become dysfunctional. It is critical that mentoring be a no-fault relationship that either party has the option to terminate for good reason at any time without risk or harm to careers.

There is no set time limit to mentoring. At some point, the relationship undergoes a transition as mentees seek guidance less often and mentors gain a level of comfort with their mentees moving forward independently. Ideally, mentees and mentors establish a somewhat different relationship as colleagues, working together on projects of mutual interest. During the transition from being mentored to becoming colleagues, the period of increased independence needed by the mentee may create a sense of struggle; this can be disruptive to the relationship if the mentor does not truly support this. Open communication is tremendously important in this regard. It is also incumbent upon mentors to feel secure enough in their role, accept and embrace their mentee’s growing independence, and celebrate their transition to colleague, as this is the best metric for the performance of mentoring.

Mentoring Risks

It is generally flattering to be called someone’s mentor, and having a mentoring program for residents, fellows, and junior faculty usually increases the reputation of an institution. However, there are inherent risks to the mentee and to

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the mentor, particularly in formal mentoring programs.

Mentees may have unrealistic expectations, make unreasonable demands of their mentors, or may be unreceptive to mentoring altogether. When formal mentoring programs prescribe mentoring relationships, senior faculty can feel pressured into becoming mentors; as a result, they may be disinterested and unhelpful to the mentee(s) assigned to them. Within the inherent context of mentoring lies the potential for mentors to choose the easiest path and perpetuate the status quo or foster overdependency, thereby failing to recognize and address the mentee’s career goals, personal values, and needs. Finally, potential conflicts of interest should be avoided, especially if the mentor is in the position of being the mentee’s direct supervisor. Mentorship should not aim for the mentee to evolve into a “clone” of the mentor; rather, it should foster a flexible environment that allows for the development of the mentee’s own professional identity.

While it can be challenging to identify a good or even great mentor, it is equally (and perhaps more) critical to be able to recognize and avoid a bad mentor. Senior faculty who are hypercritical are often so because they are unable to share the limelight with mentees. Even subconscious jealousy may lead to a mentor’s inaccessibility, desertion, or exploitation of the mentee. This can be exemplified by a mentor who usurps a mentee’s work, pressures a disinterested mentee to continue involvement in the mentor’s research, or inappropriately demands authorship. As mentees succeed in their own right and rise in stature and importance, it is conceivable that they will be perceived to be competitors, particularly because they share the expertise of their mentor. If mentors feel vulnerable or are insecure in their own right, they might fail (intentionally or unintentionally) to acknowledge the intellectual contributions of their mentees. This can result in acts of “commission” or “omission” that are not in the best interest of the mentee and can be perceived as being akin to bullying. Good mentors do not take credit or take over for their mentees; rather, they should celebrate their mentees’ success, and convey that pride to the mentee and the community.

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Finally, mentorship should never allow for even the perception of inappropriate personal boundaries; sometimes friendship alone can cloud judgment, and critical oversight is lost. Individuals may also experience unwanted romantic interest, sexual innuendo or harassment, coercive or other inappropriate behavior. If this is perceived, it should be addressed immediately. If the relationship cannot be repaired, it needs to be terminated in a safe environment for the mentee. When it becomes clear that a mentoring relationship is dysfunctional or nonproductive, a mentee may want to involve a senior individual (e.g., the chair of the department or another very well-established, respected individual) before having face-to-face discussions with the mentor. Nonconfrontational, open, and candid discussions can be uncomfortable, but they are very important. If the relationship is to be severed, it should be done expeditiously. It is extremely important that acrimonious or contentious issues not be perpetuated or discussed with others.

Conclusion

The most important metric of successful mentoring is the success of the mentee. The crucial issue is that mentoring, like all relationships, requires a significant time investment; if mentors do not have time and resources to devote, there can be no mentoring relationship. There are also benefits for mentors from mentoring junior faculty. These include developing a personal support network, information and feedback from their mentees, satisfaction from helping others, recognition (including accelerated promotion), and improved career satisfaction. Mentoring can, and should, be a reciprocally beneficial relationship.

In the end, mentoring has been shown to promote career development and satisfaction by increasing interest in one’s career and enhancing faculty productivity, since it is linked to funding and publications. It also has been shown to facilitate promotion in academia, improve success of women and underrepresented minorities, increase the time that