This guide will help you reflect on and document your mentoring activities, impact, and overall approach to mentoring. It includes questions for reflection, examples of what to include, and suggestions for where to document mentoring in your promotion materials.

Defining the two types of mentorship

Mentors provide two broad functions to mentees over the phases of mentoring relationships: career development and psychosocial support (Kram, 1985; Deng et al., 2022; Nabi et al., 2024). 

Career-related mentorship might include sponsoring students for opportunities, sharing professional networks, or providing technical expertise with the aim of helping mentees progress in their careers (Berk et al., 2005). 

Psychosocial mentorship may include providing support, role modeling, and validation with the aim of enhancing mentees’ self-efficacy and career identity (Allen & Eby, 2007; Arora & Rangnekar, 2015). 

Where to document mentoring

Mentoring may show up in different areas of your promotion and review materials, depending on the focus and audience of your mentoring.

  • Teaching Section: If you mentor undergraduate or graduate students, teaching assistants, or postdoctoral scholars, include these activities in a dedicated mentoring subsection within your teaching documentation. This section should detail your mentoring activities, 
    the impact on your mentees, and any notable outcomes resulting from your guidance. Additionally, reflect on what you have learned from these experiences and how they have influenced your teaching and professional development. 

  • Service Section: If you are mentoring fellow faculty members, document these activities within the service section of your materials. This should encompass your contributions to the professional development of your colleagues, including any formal or informal mentoring relationships, and the positive effects of your mentorship on their careers. Reflect on the insights and skills you have gained through mentoring your peers and how these experiences have enhanced your service contributions.

What to document

Below are categories you might use to organize your mentoring documentation:

  • Who You Mentored: List the individuals you have mentored, including their career stage and the time frame of your mentoring relationship. 

  • Mentoring Activities: Summarize the kinds of mentoring activities you engaged in—research or teaching supervision, career guidance, professional development support, etc. Include how often you met and the focus of these meetings.

  • Mentee Outcomes: Note outcomes such as mentee publications, awards, or career advancement. How did your mentoring contribute to these outcomes?

  • Mentoring Awards and Recognition: List any awards or recognitions you have received for your mentoring efforts and explain how they reflect your impact as a mentor. 

  • Professional Growth and Development: List any mentoring-related workshops, training sessions, or conferences you have attended. Describe what you learned and how you have applied it to your mentoring practice.

How to document mentoring

Use reflection questions to write detailed narratives describing your mentoring philosophy, growth and development as a mentor, setting goals for mentorship, mentoring behaviors, competencies, and outcomes. 

  • Documenting Your Mentoring Behaviors: This resource is designed to help you systematically reflect on and document your mentoring behaviors — the specific actions and interactions you engage in as a mentor during the mentoring process.​

  • Documenting Your Mentoring Competencies: This resource is designed to help you systematically reflect on and document your mentoring approach — the specific methods and strategies you use to interact with and support your mentees.