Strategically Developing a Network of Mentors
No one mentor can meet all of an individual mentee’s needs.
A network-based model for mentorship can help mentees find support and mentorship across three key domains: academic, professional, and well-being.
The tools on this page can help mentees identify, foster, and grow their mentor network.
A Mentor Network Map is a practical tool to help mentees identify the mentors that exist within their network and the roles they play. It can also help a mentee identify areas of their unmet needs. For these areas, a mentee can use the map to inform how they may strategically expand their mentor network.
Purpose
The purpose of this FAIM Mentor Network Map is to help graduate student mentees explore their mentoring needs and visualize their mentor network. It is a practical tool to help identify existing mentors and the roles they play within the mentee’s network across various domains. It also helps identify areas of unmet mentoring needs. For these areas of unmet mentoring needs, a map can inform a mentee’s plans to expand their existing mentor network and who and why they will seek to bring into their network.
Instructions
Step 1: Self-Reflect and Prioritize Areas for Mentorship
Mentees should review the mentor categories in the FAIM Mentor Network Map, self-reflect on their current academic and professional stage, and identify their immediate mentoring needs. Mentees should also consider the mentoring needs and wants likely to arise during the next stage of their academic and/or professional careers.
Mentees should circle or otherwise indicate the areas in which they currently need mentoring and support within each domain: academic, professional, and well-being.
Step 2: Identify Mentors Who Can Provide Appropriate Mentorship
Mentees should add names of current mentors in each of the areas that fall under the three primary domains of the FAIM Mentor Network Map. These should be individuals that the mentees identify as already providing forms of mentoring most relevant to the mentee’s current stage in their academic or professional career(s). This includes formal mentors with whom there is an established mentoring relationship as well as informal mentors with whom there are more casual relationships and less structured mentoring.
Mentees should then add names of prospective mentors in those same areas. Mentees should especially identify prospective mentors in areas where they presently have little to no mentorship.
Step 3: Strategize & Look Forward
Mentees should self-reflect and identify their emerging mentoring needs. For example, a first-year graduate student mentee may prioritize identifying role models as they explore how they want to engage with a department’s cultural norms. Mentors who can provide substantive and extensive feedback may be more appropriate for a doctoral candidate.
Because mentoring needs will change over time and context, mentees should routinely review and revise their FAIM Mentor Network Map. Examples of pivotal moments of when to revisit this map include when a mentee is preparing for or has met a significant academic milestone or when preparing to enter the job market.
The FAIM Guide for Cultivating a Mentoring Network can support mentees as they initiate conversations about a mentoring relationship with current and prospective mentors. This resource helps a mentee prepare for and engage in an initial meeting about mentoring, and includes scripts mentees may adapt to initiate communication.
This tool is designed to support mentees in identifying, approaching, and cultivating mentoring relationships that align with their academic, professional, and personal growth. By using thoughtful communication strategies and personalized approaches, mentees can build a network of mentors who provide diverse guidance and support. The resource provides suggestions on how to initiate conversations with both new and current mentors, tailored prompts for assessing mentor fit, and best practices for engaging meaningfully with prospective mentors. This tool also helps mentees refine existing relationships to better meet evolving needs.
Access and download all of the current tools within the FAIM Practical Toolkit for Mentoring available to support the development of inclusive and supportive mentoring relationships.