Mentoring Is Caring: Building Relationships With Doctoral Students and Providing Feedback During the Dissertation Process

• In Event: 14.038 - Preparing Leaders to Work for Educational Equality: Effective Feedback to Students on Leadership and Scholarship

Abstract

Doctoral students benefit from the mentorship of graduate faculty (Davidson & Foster-Johnson, 2001) to gain the skills needed to successfully navigate a doctoral program and beyond. Yet doctoral students face many obstacles especially in an institutional context that does not foster a climate of belonging (Gildersleeve, Croom, & Vasquez, 2011). In addition to having faculty serve as support systems for students through mentoring, it is also important for program faculty to socialize students into research production as they prepare to become scholars (Stevens-Long, Schapiro, & McClintock, 2011) contributing original research to the existing knowledge base. It is the purpose of doctoral preparation programs to promote graduate student learning – and successful navigation of the dissertation process – through networking and mentoring opportunities. What feedback – in terms of content, format, frequency, and tone – is most helpful for students? How do student preferences vary across dimensions of difference, including race, ethnicity, gender, dis/ability, etc.? How can faculty use feedback in ways that cultivate a student’s sense of belonging and efficacy?

Author

• Mariela Aime Rodriguez, The University of Texas - San Antonio