Mentorship and Academic Development

Mentorship of faculty, students and policy makers is at the core of academic development. This book explores several approaches to mentoring and the benefits of mentorship in higher education and in teaching and research. Mentoring is based on trust and care and building relationships and skills through affinity and empathy. However, mentoring practices in higher education are constantly imperilled by crises, political polarization, technological developments, and economic disparities. This is precisely why it is particularly important and desirable to promote trust as a basis for the development within academic communities through mentoring. The chapters in this volume emphasize the mutual benefits of mentorship for both mentees and mentors, highlighting the importance of trust, reciprocity, and care. The development of a conceptual understanding of mentoring practices as ‘eye-to-eye interactions’ helps unearth pathways towards building connections that nurture everyone’s voice, empowerment and growth. This book was originally published as a special issue of International Journal for Academic Development.