Mentors Help Students Emerge from Grad School Crucible
When MIT graduate student Bonna Newman signed up for MentorNet, she was looking for someone who not only
could provide insight into being a woman in a male-dominated field, but also was working outside of
academia.
"You don't find many physicists on campus who've done work in industry," says Newman, a third-year
student in atomic physics who is seeking a nonacademic career. "For me, it was a big issue to get
input from people who have exposure to industry."
In addition to exploring career questions with her mentor—such as the value of a Ph.D. versus a master's
degree, what jobs she can expect, and what skills employers value—she's gotten some sage advice about
balancing life and work.
"So far the most useful advice has been on career couples. My boyfriend recently moved away for his
career, and my mentor has given me personal advice on what questions and issues might be important
for our relationship to work," says Newman.
MentorNet Meets Grad Student Support Needs
Graduate students are increasingly finding much-needed support through MentorNet. This year (2004–05),
they represent 33 percent of matched protégés, and many more are in need of mentors. Moreover, in
MentorNet's annual evaluations, graduate students report high degrees of satisfaction with their
relationships and say they are particularly beneficial.
Blanche Staton, MIT's associate dean for graduate students, says MentorNet's One-on-One program
fills real needs for graduate students, particularly women and underrepresented minorities, whether
they seek industry or academic careers. She brought MentorNet to the MIT campus five years ago.
"At the graduate level, students are very dependent on one individual—their thesis advisor—for
support," says Staton. "At most institutions, certainly research institutions, the faculty are
incredibly busy. There's little time for anything besides the work. They think less about the
mentoring piece of it—they are fabulous scholars but may know nothing about mentoring. And, let's
face it, most of our faculty are men—men whose network of colleagues and protégés are, for the most
part, other men.
"Women and minority students tend to get marginalized," she continues. "Students don't see in their
thesis advisor someone who's going to be sensitive to their concerns or even understand their
concerns. They seek other places where they feel comfortable and safe, to connect with someone
who has their best interests at heart. And often the student is more confident outside of their
lab group."
A Real-World Sounding Board for Decisions
Science and engineering students find the crucible of graduate school is far different in many ways
from their undergraduate experience. It's more competitive, politics can play a large role, and
students must be more self-motivated. And there are far fewer women and underrepresented minorities.
In this milieu, having a mentor gives graduate students a safe sounding board and widens their
view to provide real-world contexts for making decisions.
Newman, for example, recently wrestled with whether she should simply get her master's degree
and get a job.
"I felt I had to make a decision right away, and [my mentor] encouraged me to slow down and take
some time to think it through, to try to weigh the decision in a less emotional, more thoughtful
manner," she says. She hasn't decided yet, but that's OK: "I feel much better about it."
Newman's need for off-campus support is not uncommon.
"There is less in place for grad students in terms of institutional support at [MIT]," says
Staton. (MIT has an ombudsman, a career services office, and groups such as Women in Physics,
which Newman takes part in.) "Historically, institutions assumed that grad students were there
to get a degree and get out, and because they were older and more focused, they didn't need the
kind of support undergraduates receive.
"That's not true anymore. They want a life, they want career advising, they want to talk to
people in other disciplines, they want to have community space. When I talk to my colleagues
at other Ivy-plus institutions, everybody's saying it: It's a different student."