Margaret F. King, Ph.D. The Graduate School Mentoring Graduate Students: Ethical Issues

Mentoring Graduate Students: The Ethical Dimension Ethics: Reasoned moral judgments in response to the following questions: What is my duty in a given situation? What is right, fair, obligatory? Mentoring graduate students – among the “special duties” that come with assuming the role of university professor

Mentoring Graduate Students: Core Responsibility Helping graduate students become competent scholars or scientists capable of conducting independent, original and ethically sound research

Who mentors graduate students? Program Faculty + Thesis Committee + Research Advisor

When should mentoring occur? Advisor & Committee Selection Plan of Work & Curriculum Preliminary Exams Research Dissertation/Final Defense Career Launching/Job Search Admissions/Orientation

Guiding Principles: A Mentoring Compass Right AttentionRight Boundaries Right Empathy Right Empowerment Right = ethically sound; also adequate or effective. Overarching challenge: Right balance

Right Attention To student’s fit with and preparation for a particular program To student’s uniqueness (background, personality, strengths, weaknesses) To student’s progress through program To aggregated student performance (indicators of the degree to which program outcomes are being achieved)

Right Boundaries Maintaining appropriate professional distance Avoiding romantic relationships Resisting the urge to try to clone yourself in your students Avoiding conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment

Conflicts of Interest and Commitment Conflict of Interest: The real or apparent interference of one person's interests with the interests of another person or persons, where potential bias may occur or unfair treatment may result Conflict of Commitment: The situation that occurs when a faculty member’s external activities or commitments adversely affect that faculty members’ ability to carry out university responsibilities

Right Empathy Being able to place oneself imaginatively in another’s situation Respect for difference Achieving the right balance between nurture and objective evaluation Sometimes, having the courage to give negative feedback or even to terminate a student’s program

Right Empowerment vs. Disempowerment Power Over (Abuse) Power Withheld (Neglect) Power “With” (Empowerment)

Right Empowerment: Examples/Features Shared knowledge/information Clear expectations Encouragement/coaching Constructive criticism Professional development opportunities An environment where it is safe to risk Advocacy/“running interference”

Graduate Student Mentoring: Sample Online Resources University of Louisville’s online “Mentor and Graduate Student” handbook: University of Michigan’s handbooks for grad students and faculty mentors: oring/contents.html and oring/contents.html oring/contents.html oring/contents.html “Re-Envisioning the Ph.D.” – National list of grad student mentoring programs: