Building mentoring programs can change the academic environment and leverage the scientific career.
A scientific career is full of challenges, but we have the same amount of opportunities for personal growth. In this journey, we deepen our knowledge on one or a few topics throughout our scientific training by developing projects that generate discoveries and innovations. As we grow as experts, we have the opportunity to get to know ourselves better when we need to solve complex problems, manage our time, and reflect on the direction of our lives and careers.
All this challenging journey can often lead us to question why we are going through all this and even generate discouragement. The feeling of loneliness hits us hard when the research environment is more of a challenge and does not help us face these moments, especially when immersed in a highly competitive and toxic culture. The good news is that we don’t have to face all of this alone, and we can even help others in their early career stages to face this journey and extract the most knowledge and wisdom for life.
One of the ways to receive help and support others in this scientific journey is through the mentoring process. This process can be formal or informal and can cover virtually all scientific areas, different career paths, and personal organization. It is common to think that the only way to be a mentor and generate value for scientists is to have extensive life and career experience and pass it on to scientists at the beginning of their careers. However, this is not the only way to contribute as a mentor.
Senior Scientist to Early Career Scientist Mentoring (Top-down)
The most well-known and widely promoted mentoring way, including in the formal academic orientation process, is mentoring between an experienced scientist, usually a principal investigator, and an early career scientist in training. In this process, the senior scientist has extensive experience in the scientific subject, scientific writing, collaboration, and personal organization. In contrast, early-career scientists want to acquire this experience along their journey. Mentoring can (and should) go beyond the technical area. The senior scientist can also help their mentee face the everyday challenges of the scientific journey, choose a career path and outline solid plans to achieve their goals.
Peer to Peer Mentoring
Another mentoring structure that happens mostly informally is when scientists at the same career level contribute to mutual growth by sharing their solutions to everyday challenges on the scientific journey, from answers to technical challenges to solutions that help them better cope with the culture of the research environment. This type of mentoring is critical to creating a collaborative environment where scientists co-create results that will benefit both. As they are at similar career levels, their challenges can also be similar, creating a sense of belonging among those involved, which is essential to ward off loneliness and discouragement during difficult times.
Early Career Scientist to Senior Scientist Mentoring (Bottom-up)
A third mentoring structure rarely addressed is between an early career scientist transferring knowledge formally or informally to senior scientists. This structure is fundamental in innovative environments such as the scientific environment. In addition to strengthening the ties between scientists at different levels, this structure makes possible innovations and implementations that rely on the awareness and decision of formal leadership. A direct example of this mentoring format is when a new technology emerges, and senior scientists have never had exposure to digital tools. In contrast, younger scientists born into this connected world may find it easier to master and implement the technology in research. To implement this format, senior scientists need to be open-minded and understand that collaboration, even between such different career levels of scientists, can generate positive scientific results.
Whatever the specific structure, the mentoring process is fundamental in the academic environment. By sharing knowledge and wisdom, it is possible to leverage the career, provide direction and help scientists of all levels face the everyday challenges of the scientific journey. Furthermore, the mentoring process can change the research environment’s culture by naturally creating a collaborative culture among the participants. This culture facilitates the flow of information and knowledge beyond techniques and creates roots in scientific life and career.
Jadson Jall, PhD 