Chapter 18: Mentoring Relationships in Higher Education: An Important Means of Encouraging the Development of Others

“Being a professor is creative, exciting, and energizing work; however, transitioning into that role can be difficult, daunting, and draining,” once affirmed McCormick and Barnes (2008, p. 16). Challenges abound when initially entering a career (Cawyer, Simonds, & Davis, 2002). Regardless of which avenue from which the junior faculty member enters into the academic setting, just completing the terminal degree (master’s or doctoral), or arriving from practicing in their discipline after earning their terminal degree, she or he has a rather steep learning curve to climb. Initial mentoring when transferring from role of student to faculty is critical to the new faculty members’ long-term success (Austin, 2003; Colbeck, O’Meara, & Austin, 2008; Holmes, Land, & Hinton-Hudson, 2007).