Table 1.

Cross‐cutting functions of effective mentorship.

Strategic: supports planned goal setting and critical decision making (e.g., regarding decisions that are pivotal to attaining academic and career milestones). Reflection: How does my mentor assist me in maturing my vision?

Analytic: deciphering options, opportunities, pitfalls, pathways (i.e., the development of strategies to reach goals). Reflection: How does my mentor assist me in determining how to achieve or realize my vision?

Operational: skills‐based mentorship (e.g., how to craft a persuasive piece of scholarship). Reflection: How does my mentor support me in developing new, or honing existing, skills?

Instrumental: facilitating access to key resources, such as lab space, facilities, funding, other mentors. Reflection: How does my mentor assist me in accessing needed resources/services?

Affective and emotional support: involves providing empathy and encouragement that helps a mentee reengage with a challenging task and sustains motivation. Reflection: How does my mentor respond when I feel discouraged or when I have experienced a setback/disappointment?

Inspirational: facilitating access to role models who have direct, lived experience with aspects of a given mentee's path, who can, therefore, provide empathy as well as grounded strategies for navigating obstacles to success. Such mentors serve as a source of hope and encouragement as someone who faced some of the same struggles, yet persevered. Reflection: In what way(s) is my mentor like me? What wisdom might s/he have to offer that I can apply in navigating my own path to success? To what extent does my mentor understand some of my challenges and struggles?