The Importance of Peer Mentoring for Facilitating Professional and Personal Development

In: PS: political science & politics, Band 37, Heft 1, S. 111-113

Abstract

Despite the benefits produced by traditional mentoring programs for political scientists at all career levels, it is stated that graduate students & junior faculty would receive additional advantages by establishing peer mentor relationships. Several shortcomings of traditional mentor programs constructed upon existing academic hierarchies are identified, eg, some graduate students & junior faculty encounter problems in accessing their mentors. Multiple reasons for encouraging graduate students & junior faculty to pursue peer mentoring relationships are provided, eg, students & junior faculty can share personal & academic difficulties with each other in an egalitarian context. Gail M. McGuire & Jo Reger's (2003) model for co-mentoring based on feminist principles is discussed to further illustrate the advantages of peer mentoring paradigms. It is also stated that peer mentoring is particularly helpful for racial minority & female graduate students & junior faculty. 18 References. J. W. Parker