National Mentoring Month

Posted on by

Colleagues,

Most of you know that February is Black History Month. You may not know that February is also National Mentoring Month. I am writing to tell you about some resources you may find helpful as you plan your participation in these events.

The Council of Graduate Schools provides a comprehensive, curated list of Social Justice and Anti-Racism Resources for Graduate Education. The resources are divided into four categories:

  • General resources: Establishing contexts for social justice and anti-racism
  • Holistic graduate admissions: Recruiting diverse students to improve programs and support missions
  • Culturally aware mentoring: Valuing different student experiences in the mentoring relationship
  • Discipline-based examples: Discipline-specific challenges and solutions in diversity, equity, and inclusion

The National Academy of Sciences provides a broad array of resources on the science of mentoring. The Graduate School provides a comprehensive list of these resources, but you may find the following particularly useful:

The National Academy resources are focused on mentoring graduate students in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine disciplines, but many of the principles should also apply to the arts, humanities, and social sciences. You may also find the curricula offered through the Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) useful. The curricula are customized for many different disciplines. Free registration allows you to download the curricula from CIMER.

Please remember that David Embrick and Stephany Santos will holding a Timely Topics session on Advising and mentoring historically excluded or racially oppressed graduate students tomorrow, February 2nd, at 1:00pm. You may register for the session.

I look forward to celebrating Black History Month and National Mentoring Month with you.

Kent Holsinger