Eldridge Financial Blog: Content Collection: Mentoring Advice - The-looser-it-s-me

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Eldridge Financial Blog: Content Collection: Mentoring Advice - The-looser-it-s-me

Posted by cookode 96 days ago (http://www.the-looser-it-s-me.net)

Everyone who’s gone through the early stages of an academic career has had an undergraduate research supervisor, and a Ph.D. and postdoc adviser. But not everyone can claim to have had a mentor. Even fewer can claim to have had more than one. And that’s too bad.

The essential difference between an adviser and a mentor is that the adviser directs while the mentor guides. An adviser often has an agenda, be it to point your research in a particular direction or merely to publish more papers. Foremost among a mentor’s concerns are your professional development and personal well-being. A mentor offers you support, guidance, and even solace with no other motive than helping you identify and reach your own goals. A mentor is someone you can open yourself up to without fearing deleterious consequences.

If you are lucky, your adviser is also a mentor, but many mentors are found outside of the lab.