Biology Seminar | Dr. Maria LaMonaca Wisdom | Navigating Power Dynamics in Mentoring Relationships

Dr. Maria LaMonaca Wisdom, Director of Interdisciplinary Mentoring and Coaching Programs

The relationships doctoral students and postdocs form with faculty mentors are critical to their academic and professional success. These relationships can also generate (for mentors as well as mentees) significant amounts of complication and stress. It is important for both mentees and mentors to acknowledge the structural limitations of academic mentoring relationship, including the "elephant in the room," of power dynamics. This talk, which draws upon Dr. Wisdom's coaching work with both doctoral student mentees and faculty mentors, outlines some challenges related to power dynamics, as well as strategies doctoral students and faculty can employ to feel greater confidence and agency in navigating these relationships.