Mentoring relationships – ‘Cheating on my mentor’

In the most recent edition of Science a graduate student shares their experience seeking mentorship aside from the relationship with their primary advisor. While MPOWIR exclusively offers mentoring opportunities outside the advisor-advisee role, this piece brings to light many of the potential emotions, and benefits, of having multiple mentors. As such, the authors experience will likely resonate with the MPOWIR community.  Boehnke summarizes the experience toward the end of the piece: “As I learned firsthand, it is not realistic to always expect immediate feedback, exhaustive answers, and quick and productive meetings all from a single individual, who is, after all, human, with their own life and career to foster. With my mentoring team, I receive different things from different people, and incorporating their perspectives into my work has enriched both my research and my life.”

Read full ‘Science’ article

Kevin F. Boehnke, 2018. Cheating on my mentor. Science, 359, 6374, p. 486, doi: 10.1126/science.359.6374.486

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