Prevalence of mentoring in clinical versus experimental doctoral programs: Survey findings, implications, and recommendations.

Abstract

Previous research suggests that mentorships are quite important in the development of junior professionals in a range of fields, including psychology. Yet some evidence suggests that clinical doctoral students may be less frequently mentored by graduate faculty than other psychology doctoral students. Results of a survey of clinical and experimental psychology doctorates who earned the degree in four distinct time frames from 1945 to the present indicated that clinical PhDs (53%) were indeed less likely than experimental PhDs (69%) to be mentored. Potential explanations for this discrepancy include the nature of clinical training, diffusion in clinical training, and the advent of professional training models. The implications of less frequent mentoring for clinical doctorates are discussed, and several recommendations for addressing this phenomenon are offered.

The intentional mentor: Strategies and guidelines for the practice of mentoring.

“…Since 1945, clinical psychology doctoral students have been significantly less likely (53%) than nonclinical (experimental) doctoral students (69%) to be mentored (Johnson, Koch, et al, 2000), and among recent clinical psychology graduates, PsyDs (56%) are significantly less likely than PhDs (73%) to be mentored (Clark et al, 2000).…”

“…Mentoring is a personal relationship in which a more experienced (usually older) faculty member or professional acts as a guide, role model, teacher, and sponsor of a less experienced (usually younger) graduate student or junior professional. A mentor provides the protégé with knowledge, advice, challenge, counsel, and support in the protégé's pursuit of becoming a full member of a particular profession (Clark et al, 2000;Johnson, Koch, Fallow, & Huwe, 2000 (e.g., teaching, advising, supervising, counseling, friendship), yet the whole is clearly more than the sum of these parts.…”

“…After reviewing mentoring outcome literature in management and education, Russell and Adams (1997) concluded that "the benefits to the protégé can be so valuable that identification with a mentor should be considered a major developmental task of the early career" (p. 3). At the predoctoral level, benefits to mentored graduate students include development of professional skills, enhancement of confidence and professional identity, scholarly productivity, enhanced networking, dissertation success, and satisfaction with one's doctoral program (Clark et al, 2000;Johnson, Koch, et al, 2000;Mellott, Arden, & Cho, 1997). One of the most important benefits to protégés is what Levinson et al (1978) referred to as support, encouragement, and blessing on the student's journey to "realization of the dream" (p. 98).…”

Mentoring in Academia: Considerations for Diverse Populations

“…Within academia, student-faculty relationships tend to be more formalized, with the most common type being the advisor-advisee relationship in graduate school (Schlosser & Gelso, 2001;Schlosser, Knox, Moskovitz, & Hill, 2003;Schlosser, Talleyrand, Lyons, Kim, & Johnson, 2005). Research has shown that students almost always have an advisor (Schlosser & Gelso, 2001), but only 50 to 66 percent report having a mentor (Atkinson, Casas, & Neville, 1994;Clark, Harden, & Johnson, 2000;Cronan-Hillix, Davidson, Cronan-Hillix, & Gensheimer, 1986;Hollingsworth & Fassinger, 2002;Johnson, Koch, Fallow, & Huwe, 2000). So, while our focus is on mentoring, it is important to note that many mentors are also advisors, and researchers have speculated that positive advising relationships and mentoring relationships are quite similar (Schlosser & Gelso, 2001;Schlosser & Gelso, in press).…”

A Strategic Approach to Implementation of Medical Mentorship Programs

“…Trainees develop enhanced professional skills, greater confidence, and increased scholarly productivity. [7][8][9] Faculty mentors gain increased academic productivity and accelerated professional recognition. 1,10,11 The goal of this study was to examine the effectiveness of 2 interventions on increasing the number of mentor relationships in graduate medical education (GME) programs at Stanford University Medical Center and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.…”