Mentoring as Socialization for the Educational Leadership Professoriate: A Collaborative Autoethnography

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed the experiences of an educational leadership doctoral student and aspirant to the professoriate (protégé) and an educational leadership professor (mentor) during our two-year mentoring relationship. Collaborative autoethnography was employed, and our analysis relied primarily upon a processoriented model of mentoring. Four main themes emerged: (a) reciprocal trust, (b) experiential learning, (c) stability and change, and (d) mutual benefit. Our relationship also was marked by several critical features, and we described the timing and sequence of the socialization experience. This productive mentoring relationship offers a detailed model for doctoral students and faculty members who wish to pursue a similar relationship. From our research, we also contribute to the broader mentoring literature, in which previous researchers have rarely delved simultaneously into mentor and protégé experiences. Scholars who study mentoring will gain from insights into the manner in which anticipatory socialization unfolds, as well as critical features that emerge and evolve in the process.

Ripple Effects

“…Through frequent interaction, a positive nature, and being centered on positive concern for another, mentoring, particularly for scholarpractitioners in Ed.D. programs, can provide the socialization needed for academic success (Allen & Eby, 2007;Malin & Hackmann, 2016).…”

Mentoring for the Educational Leadership Professoriate: Perspectives From Jay D. Scribner Mentoring Award Recipients and Mentees

“…Few studies addressing the educational leadership professoriate have been conducted (Malin & Hackmann, 2016;Mansfield, Welton, Lee, & Young, 2010), with mentoring often "conceptualized narrowly by being limited to technical supervising and advising" for dissertation completion (K. Young & Harris, 2012, p. 343). Mentoring research for the educational leadership professoriate primarily has focused on women's or underrepresented students' experiences (Kottkamp & Rusch, 2009).…”

“…Quality mentoring was essential: Students valued professors who willingly met to provide guidance, perceiving they were "in a better position to navigate the university structure, demands, and requirements" (p. 45). Malin and Hackmann (2016) analyzed their successful student-professor mentoring relationship using collaborative autoethnography. They developed four main themes-reciprocal trust, experiential learning, stability and change, and mutual benefit-and noted several critical relational features.…”

“…However, a problem exists, in that mentoring experiences can vary in intensity, duration, and quality (Mertz, 2004); in addition, competing definitions of mentoring have been advanced, reflecting ill-defined roles for mentees and mentors, and unclear expectations (Dawson, 2014;Eby, Rhodes, & Allen, 2011;Mertz, 2004). Existing scholarship does not adequately inform those who wish to develop successful mentoring relationships in educational leadership faculty positions (Malin & Hackmann, 2016), nor does it explain why a professor might enter into a mentoring relationship (Mertz, 2004).…”

Teacher Leadership at Technical University

“…Cheung, Reinhardt, Stone, Little (2018) devised the Science Teacher Leader Profile, it involves four main activities including the modelling effective instruction. Based on the analysis of the perception of educational leadership by doctoral students and PhD students of the professoriate and an educational leadership professor (mentor) Malin and Hackmann (2016) considered and detailed the model of mentoring. Zacher and Johnson (2015) indicated that PhD students' perception of their professors as transformational leaders positively correlates with the ratings of professors' creativity.…”