Mentoring Resources

Mentoring has an important influence on every student's academic and professional development. Sometimes guidance from a mentor is life changing; other times it is simply reassuring and affirming. 

Graduate students are encouraged to seek mentoring from multiple faculty, including from their advisor if they choose, as well as from other other students, postdoctoral scholars, and staff. In turn, students are also encouraged to serve as mentors to more junior graduate students, to undergraduates, or to high school students. Here are a few resources to get you started.

Mentoring Programs & Groups

WISE and WISSH

Meet peers and mentors in your field through Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and Women in the Social Sciences and the Humanities (WISSH). Groups meet weekly for 90 minutes and are led by a facilitator.

Mechanical Engineering Women's Group

Sponsors a weekly Winter Quarter seminar featuring female leaders in engineering fields (ENG 311A) as well as other activities. Open to everyone.

Stanford Alumni Mentoring

Overseen by Stanford Career Education (CareerEd), Stanford Alumni Mentoring (SAM) connects graduate students with alumni near and far.

BioSci Connect

An online mentoring community for career and life conversations with biosciences students, trainees, and postdocs. BioSci Careers' specialized mentoring program, BioSci Connect, provides a platform for connecting students and trainees with alumni.

Association for Women in Science

Offers students access to many valuable programs and mentors through Stanford's university membership.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity

Provides professional development, training, and mentoring resources that are broadly applicable across academic disciplines through Stanford's institutional membership.

National Research Mentoring Network

Provides opportunities for virtual mentorship (as a mentor or mentee) with trainings and guidance to broaden participation in every career stage in the biomedical workforce (broadly defined); no subscription or membership required.

Bibliography & Videos

• Entering Mentoring: A Seminar to Train a New Generation of Scientists (PDF) 
• Nature's Guide for Mentors (article and self assessment)
• University of Michigan's How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty (PDF)
• University of Michigan's How to Get the Mentoring You Want: A Guide for Graduate Students (PDF)
• Mentoring Up: Learning to Manage Your Mentoring Relationships (PDF; from The Mentoring Continuum: From Graduate School to Tenure by Glenn Wright)
• Beyond Mentoring (PDF; book chapter in Advancing Postdoc Women, National Postdoctoral Association) 
• Mentoring in Research - Skills for Mentoring Others (VPGE video and accompanying materials)