Mentoring with Maximum Impact: Thinking Critically about Institutional Approaches to Mentorship

As mentorship programs across institutions of higher education increase so do the number of models of mentorship. Minimally, mentorship is often viewed as offering feedback, providing advice, and occasionally checking in on academic progress. Although helpful to first-generation college students in some ways, this minimalist approach to mentoring fails to capture the significance of the creation of authentic relationships between students and university staff or faculty.

Beyond just selecting a major or potential career path is a journey of decisions and influences that drive students toward success. It is through building a greater understanding of the layers beyond the surface that allow for mentors to provide the catered support that historic mentorship/apprenticeship is known to cultivate. This session looks at mentorship at post-secondary institutions and how to garner maximum impact from these relationships.