Clinical research study
Defining the Ideal Qualities of Mentorship: A Qualitative Analysis of the Characteristics of Outstanding Mentors

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Abstract

Objective

The study's objective was to identify the important qualities of outstanding mentors as described by their mentees' letters of nomination for a prestigious lifetime achievement award in mentorship.

Methods

The Lifetime Achievement in Mentorship Award at the University of California, San Francisco, recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained mentoring excellence in the academic health sciences. Recommendation letters in support of the top 10 nominees in 2008 (n = 53 letters) were analyzed using grounded theory and constant comparative technique until thematic saturation was achieved.

Results

In 2008, 29 faculty members (of >1000 eligible senior faculty) were nominated. Nominees were 53 to 78 years old, and 30% were women. The nominees represented 4 schools (Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Dentistry) and 22 departments/divisions. Five themes emerged from the analysis. Outstanding mentors: 1) exhibit admirable personal qualitites, including enthusiasm, compassion, and selflessness; 2) act as a career guide, offering a vision but purposefully tailoring support to each mentee; 3) make strong time commitments with regular, frequent, and high-quality meetings; 4) support personal/professional balance; and 5) leave a legacy of how to be a good mentor through role modeling and instituting policies that set global expectations and standards for mentorship.

Conclusion

This is the first study to describe the qualities of admired mentors by analyzing nomination letters for a prestigious mentoring award. Our results give new insight into how mentors foster the careers of junior faculty in the academic health sciences. The results can guide academic leaders on how to train and evaluate mentors.

Section snippets

Study Population

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), established a faculty mentoring program in 2006 to support the recruitment and retention of faculty, to increase diversity through improved mentoring of underrepresented faculty, and to improve faculty career satisfaction and success.16 In 2007, the first Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award was established to recognize senior faculty members who demonstrate long-term commitment to and excellence in faculty mentoring in the academic health

Demographics

Twenty-nine faculty members (of >1000 eligible faculty at the Associate Professor rank or higher) were nominated for the Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award by their mentees in 2008. Sixty-two percent of the mentees who submitted letters were women, and most mentees (75%) were currently at UCSF. The faculty mentors nominated for the award ranged in age from 53 to 78 years, and 30% were women. The mentors represented all 4 schools at UCSF (Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dentistry) and

Discussion

In the process of identifying the qualities of outstanding mentors, we focused on the perspective of a key stakeholder in the mentoring relationship—the mentee. Mentors who were nominated for a prestigious lifetime achievement in mentoring award exemplify the ideal qualities of mentorship. The letters of recommendation that their mentees wrote offer a unique and rich descriptive view into how their mentors have successfully provided support and guidance to achieve professional and personal

Conclusions

Our findings identify qualities of outstanding mentors from the most important judge: their mentee. Future directions could include creation and evaluation of mentorship training based on the qualitative themes identified. Similar studies at different institutions or with different mentee populations may also broaden the scope of these findings.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Funding: There are no funding sources to report, and no authors received pharmaceutical industry funds for the preparation of this article or any related research.

    Conflict of Interest: none.

    Authorship: All authors had access to the data and played a role in writing this manuscript.

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