Mentorship on the Doctoral Level: An Examination of Communication Faculty Mentors’ Traits and Functions

A mentor can be of great importance to doctoral student success and progress. While many have studied student perceptions of the process, research regarding how doctoral faculty mentors interpret and enact mentoring practices is less evident. To address this empirical gap, a doctoral student mentor functions measure was created. The measure is based on two surveys, one involving 21 specific mentors, and another of 551 communication faculty self-identified as mentoring doctoral students. Results show that research method preference, recent research productivity, academic rank, and mentor self-efficacy significantly related to variations in mentor functions (career, psychosocial, research, and intellectual). The findings reveal certain traits can influence participants’ interpretation of mentoring.