Reconceptualizing Doctoral Mentoring: A Reciprocal Approach to Professional Learning for Mentor-Mentee Dyads

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Mentoring Frameworks and Campus Dynamics

Abstract

In this study, we examine our doctoral student-faculty advisor mentoring relationship through a collaborative autoethnographic approach, focusing on our co-planning of professional development (PD). Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory, our research explores how mentoring dyads can intentionally align their growth vertically (across institutional layers) and horizontally (within their relationship). We collected data from reflective writing, structured conversations, and shared documents. Our preliminary findings highlight three key themes: mutual professional growth, intentional co-planning, and navigating power through transparency. We contribute to literature on relational mentoring by emphasizing co-constructed mentorship as an interdependent and transformative learning process. Implications for practice include implementing shared PD planning, fostering reflexivity, and institutional support for collaborative mentorship models in doctoral education.

Authors

• Faiza M. Jamil, Clemson University

• Nora D. Hochstetter, Clemson University