Author: Joon-Wah Mak
ABSTRACT
The research mentorship programme is unique in that it is a planned journey undertaken by the mentor and mentee, preferably with well-defined milestones along the journey. During the journey, familiar landmarks will be pointed out by the mentor. In path-finding situations the experience and wisdom of the mentor and the critical appraisal of both mentor and mentee will contribute to learning from the encounter. In most mentor-mentee partnerships, a formal acceptance to the relationship, well-defined landmarks measuring progress in the journey, regular appraisal of the skills developed and acquired, and phased, judicious modification in the individual roles of that relationship will be required. Although there is no consensus on the elements of mentorship, there are some strategies which can contribute to the success of the relationship. Critical success factors include convergence of the research area within the broad expertise of the research mentor. The research mentor should have a proven research track record and is committed to serve in that official capacity. The research mentoring process is dynamic and characteristics of both mentor and mentee contribute to the robustness of that relationship. The mentee would have identified some attributes of the mentor that are desirable and is willing to work hard to achieve, build on, and improve upon. In the research setting endpoint measurements of success will be based on recognition of the research standing of the mentee, measurable outcomes such as number of papers in top tier journals, citation indices, etc. consultancies attracted as well as invitations to deliver plenaries in scientific conferences, patents filed and research findings translated and applied, and other measures of research productivity. In the pursuit of research excellence the mentee would have imbibed values of professionalism and ethics in research and would have constantly kept in mind that to be successful, the mentee would be able to excel beyond his mentor and that the next generation of researchers will seek mentorship from him.
Keywords: Research mentors, endpoint measurements, successful mentorship.
Citation: IeJSME 2012 : 6(1) 11-14
