Finding & Working with Mentors

Lightly edited from Zoom’s automatic transcript, so expect some transcription errors. Speaker labels come from Zoom, and […] marks a passage that was cut.

Elisa D’Amico Okay. So… There are two pieces of the mentor, like, maybe two, three sides of the mentorship coin. First, I would say that Finding mentors or, like, seeking them versus them happening upon you is one side of it, and then working with them in, like, a… progressive way, and, like, how the relationship changes is another part of it. And then a third sort of part of it is, like, purposefully joining mentorship-related, like, events, groups, things like this is another kind of way that we do this, and some things we'll talk about. I'm gonna talk about what they're for, and what you use them for, and how they might differ. You might choose different types of mentally for different purposes. And that also leads to the second point, like. How you can benefit from different… people at different career phases in different ways, and then talk a little bit more about, as I said, some of these groups, these, events, where you can see this as well. And then… How to reach out, like… How to… especially with more senior scholars, how to… Extract what you need from… Them, or maybe adjust your… yeah, adjust your expectations of what you might need a mentor like that for, I guess. Okay.

Elisa D’Amico So, first, I would say that, like, it's… it's… It's great to have any mentor at all, but it's useful to have more than one, because they can serve a lot of different purposes, and… like, you know, I'll get to it, but more senior scholars can give advice all across the board, but maybe their advice on the job market is not quite as current, although they're a great mentor and they give great advice, it just might be good to strategize some of these. what you're seeking from these various people. Your supervisors, I would say, for thesis dissertation, can be one of them. Sometimes they're really not at all, but it's very good to get outside of the rooms. and advice, outside of your supervisor anyway. And a lot of what happens with mentorship is quite informal, almost everything on these slides is going to talk more about my story, and I hope that that serves as an example of how I kind of navigated this, and how it sort of happened.

Elisa D’Amico upon me. Let's see, different things to ask for. So, there are, like, There are, like. People that you want to ask to, like, improve your scholarship and for, like, your active… working rights, and then there's people that you want to write you letters of recommendation to introduce you to other famous scholars, to, like, speak on your behalf, promote your work, and that sort of thing. And they can serve different purposes, and you can have different people for Almost all of these categories, especially for the practical side of things. And so what happened with Hood? So… A lady on… two of these people are my dissertation committee. One of them is a senior scholar in my field. She helped a lot with Introducing me to people, getting me, like, side projects, again, like this, like, saying your name in rooms if you're not there, introducing you, Expanding your network, and then also a lot of connections with like, broader female mentorship networks, that really serves me well as well.

Elisa D’Amico And so… and it was a… served as a letter writer, who had a lot of recognition, right? And then this second scholar was, also on my dissertation committee, and we worked together a lot on, like, she was absolutely my methodological mentor, and I really needed one of those to, like, know what was current versus, like. What maybe some of the more senior scholars might be more outdated on, and that served me really well, especially if you're in a situation where you need to do a lot of self-teaching. And then, as I progressed in my career. I then, like, basically moved away from some of my former mentors. One of them is still absolutely a mentor in my field, although there's a little bit more, like, physical distance now, of course. But we still interact, and she still gives me quite a bit of advice, and I still will go to her about certain things, like, related to my book project and things like this, as the sort of mentorship-mentee relationship matures and changes. But when I got to my postdoc.

Elisa D’Amico the things I needed to do for my career started changing, so now it's like navigating how you go in the job market as a postdoc versus a PhD student, what these expectations are, how to get grants, and sort of, like, how disciplinary to be. Things like this are really, really valuable. So, this was a PR on my postdoc, and she… provided me a lot of good advice, because she had somewhat of a similar experience to me in terms of where she got her PhD, where she ended up, and some of her aspirations as well. And these were all, like, hugely… I'm not sure… In this particular situation, I'm not sure that any of these three people could have really, really given super strong advice on each other's specialty, I guess I would say. So it was really valuable to have, like, this Like, array of different, experts for different things that I would go to with these various questions. So, again, with the opening doors to Molly, the more senior scholar, suggested my name to somebody that ended up giving me a huge consultancy, and gave me, like, a bigger platform with, like, the World Wildlife Fund and more famous scholars in my field, and that was, like, super, super valuable. And she did it back then by commenting on a Twitter post, which is wild, but that led to, like, such a huge professionalization part of, like, my career.

Elisa D’Amico in my scholarly life that was super valuable, and she had that, oh, for being such, like, you know, this more senior scholar in the field. And I wouldn't have even caught this if it weren't for her. And then… again, like, the methods is pretty clear, and then job market is, like, just an adjustment that's also pretty clear. Who you ask for for different things. I've mentioned this a few times, but… There's a lot of different… Stages that we go through, and some of these are interacting. And so… for the career stage that you want to seek guidance from, like, we're gonna go from, sort of, like, lowest to highest, and so, first of all, your, like, your other peers, or maybe PhDs that are farther along in the program than you, these are good for, like.

Elisa D’Amico the daily reality of, you know, feeling like… I feel like I don't know how to write a paper at all yet. Like, when do I get the feeling that I know what I'm doing? And like… If you have comprehensive exams, like the adjustment periods with this, and the imposter syndrome, like, they're really good for things like this, and also solidarity. but it's, like, a little bit siloed, right? But that's not necessarily a bad thing. And then… the scholars that have just landed the job are, I mean, for obvious reasons, the best to ask about the job market. The process, the success rates, the strategies, what didn't work for them. Things like this. Great, because they had just done it, and they had done it successfully. And then… like, this is kind of, I don't know, kind of dialing back, but so for more junior postdocs, they're really also helpful with this market stuff, maybe more advice on how to get a postdoc versus maybe an assistant professorship, for example. And if you want to, and this is also getting into senior and postdoc as well, if you want to, like, maybe Apply for something that, like, expands your research agenda a little bit more.

Elisa D’Amico Before going the professor route, or separately. Kasia can maybe talk about this a little bit more. It's really valuable for, like, organizing that as well. if you want advice along those lines, and also the postdocs are in this period that kind of exists in between the PhD And maybe a professorship of some sort, where, like, this is your time that you must publish. So now you move on beyond this dissertation, but you may have published a bit in that, like, universe as well, or that era as well. But, like, this is your time to, like, really put stuff out and build out your agenda beyond your dissertation, and they can provide a lot of good advice about, like, finding this agenda, like. For me, during my postdoc, I had this huge, huge learning curve, so they're really valuable for that.

Elisa D’Amico And then… Assistant professors, so given that this is, like, a linear trajectory, if you go from postdoc to assistant professor, they also can give a lot of good Job market advice, of course, Sometimes you skip the postdoc entirely, and they… so therefore, like, you don't… in some… in some situations, you don't need the same sort of, like, grant advice, because in many instances. well, it depends on what job market you are, but in the North American job market, for example, like, you aren't expected to get a grant at this stage. You can sort of just, like, secure your tenure packet, work on your teaching portfolio and your research, And you don't have to worry about some of this, like, big grant-based stuff that some postdocs that take this more research route do. And also for the assistant professors, there's a big part about if you're curious about how to calibrate, like, your work-life balance and, like.

Elisa D’Amico Professionalization as you… Right, as you progress in something that is gonna… More or less, not necessarily, but, like, somewhat become what the… what you do for the rest of. your near future, right? And then associate and full professors, these more senior faculty. Again, I spoke about this already, but, like, they are really good at, I mean, knowing the lay of the land, but in an aggregate level, maybe not so much more of this, like, application stuff, like job market stuff, like, in some senses, that's yes as well, but they're good at knowing, like. Where the journals are at, what journals are, like, really good, what journals are kind of suffering, so where you should send things, who… to know, like, who… what other senior scholars would be a good network for you. Like, they're good on this high-level stuff, and the publishing thing with more senior scholars, like, they can also help teach you how to write a paper, and, like, the younger ones can as well. But… There's something about… putting your name on, like, a paper with a more senior faculty member, that is great professionally. And… If you knew how to write a paper, but then, professionally, you will also have to… use that to actually learn how to do it on your own and do it yourself, to, you know, give sort of a proof of the fact that it wasn't because you were, I don't know, right, like.

Elisa D’Amico Free writing off of the senior scholars, like, networks or, like, quality. M… But they're not as good at talking about the… like, current state of the job market, right? Sometimes, right? Okay. This is pretty much explaining what I said on the last page. So, you want the people that have just gone through the process for, like, procedural things, like, what should my teaching portfolio look like? where should I be in the publication situation right now? Maybe some questions about, like, your agenda and what's trendy, and then more senior faculty are really, really good for, like, expanding your networks, And… Yeah, it's… I mean, I guess it's good to, like. it's not always feasible, but it's good to, like, seek a mentor at any career stage. Often, like, a little bit, like, a decent chunk ahead of you, be like, if I want to be like them someday, what are all the things that they have done? And you don't necessarily have to make them your mentor, but you can organize, like, see… look at their CVs, see kind of what they're up to, and, like, mentor yourself in that way.

Elisa D’Amico So I had a mentorship that did not work, and it can be kind of hard when… like… professionally, Anyways… it can be kind of hard when you're at… I shouldn't say vulnerable, but at the, like, career phase where, like, the job market looks really scary, there's a lot of uncertainty, there's a lot of stress, and you're getting a lot of advice and feedback and inputs and stuff, and it can be hard to, like, know who… There's advice to take, who used to… like, how to sift through that, especially if you're getting some contradicting advice. And this is what happened to me. I had somebody that tried to, like, maybe… I shouldn't say tried to mentor me, but, like, there was, like, sort of a natural mentorship role going on, and the advice I got And some of the conversations that were had were just, like, It was clear that, like.

Elisa D’Amico this scholar, was not one of the scholars that I… was gonna end up as someday, that I was gonna take a sort of different path, like, different journals, different kinds of universities, just utterly different career paths, and that's fine, but, like, sometimes you will be mentored, and it… you'll need to learn how to, like, sift out what's right for you, and sort through what is valuable for you, and where you want to be, and some of this stuff, this can be hard, because sometimes you don't know yet exactly what you want your career to look like, but then in these instances where you're fed some… some stuff that doesn't feel right, that can also help you sort of narrow out, like, what you do and don't want sometimes. This is, like, this really depends, like. I had a lot of mentors inside my own institution, for a lot of different reasons. That's not always… that's not always feasible, but sometimes it's easier to do it that way, because it's more accessible, and that's completely fine.

Elisa D’Amico But sometimes their role can change as you… get more mentors in other areas of your life, or as you, you know, phase out of the PhD and go elsewhere. This is what happened to me, although I would consider my mentors from back then, most of them still my mentors today, in a different way. And also, depending on the institution you're coming from, it can be really valuable to maybe get more feedback from institutions that you want to go to, like, that you want to end up at, and what they're looking for might be a lot different from some of the stuff you can receive, in a lot of different directions, right? Like, if you want to go to a liberal arts school, but you're at an R1, like, Ivy League, like, the feedback might be different, right? Like, they might be like, publish, publish, publish, but… you might want to, like, seek other advice about how to get a portfolio together that looks better for this, and they just might not know.

Elisa D’Amico And then… Outside gives you a wild feel that you're building it. Yeah, okay. So… These are the… I… there's many, many, many of these, but, like, there's a lot of formal, sort of, mentorship programs, or even one-offs that are really, really valuable. Like, APSA has a mentorship program that they match you. A lot of the big, like, conference membership group things do. Empirical Studies of Conflict has, like, a very intensive mentorship process where they, like, fly you out to one of these Ivy Leagues, they review all your materials, and this is also really, really valuable. This third one, again, this is my experience, this third one here. It's a journal-based, Like, mentorship, it's like an early career, like. situation where they teach you how to… Moved from, like, your, maybe, like, more… less mature scholarly writing to, like, teach you how to write a journal article and get it published in, like, one of these journals, and it's super valuable as well. So there's some of these programs that exist as well. Journeys and WICS, these are both sort of, like.

Elisa D’Amico female, women's-based mentorship, and these are so nice. You get a network of a lot of senior scholars, but then you get a network of a lot of peers that are doing exactly what you're doing and, like, struggling with some of these same things, and there's a lot of, like, advice sharing, but it's also a network that's useful for, like, collaborations and other areas if you like to. And there's a bunch of conference mentorship receptions, and I just recommend going to every single one of these, signing up for all of these, if you can. You can have, again, with the one-off thing, like, you can have one really intense and great mentorship session with somebody. It doesn't need to be somebody that you rely on or reach out to in the future. And this happens a lot at conferences, or like, oh, can we have coffee type of things? And then… So… Kasia, was this your slide?

Kasia Houghton Yeah, I think that's… Should I head, should I go ahead? Okay, so I think one thing that I found really useful recently is that At the moment, I'm applying for postdoc grant, like, yeah, grant applications, basically. I'm putting those together, and for these grant applications, I need to name a host institution and also a mentor. And it's… situation is that, obviously, with postdoc, the grant holder is the principal investigator, and your mentor is kind of a little bit… It's a formal, informal type of role that's supposed to take shape, but even the process of asking somebody to be your mentor for these types of grants is a really good way to access Kind of a senior mentor who can then also give you advice on other things, like outside of this particular grant application or this particular proposal.

Kasia Houghton So even if you don't get the grant, the relationship still holds, like, especially if you, you know, find out that you got on really well, like, you know you can come back to them with other questions about different things. And this is kind of, like, often where a relationship with a senior academic starts, because for these proposals, generally speaking, you would ask the professor. To be your mentor. And usually it's… they're kind of related to the part, you know, fields, the subfields that you're really interested in working in, so it's… this is a really good way to kind of, like, just initiate those relationships with mentors and potential mentors for the future. But yeah, that's kind of, like, my context and what I've, what I've learned along the way recently. Don't move to the next. He's really good.

Kasia Houghton A public duty. Okay, sorry, in Europe.

Elisa D’Amico Okay, I agree.

Kasia Houghton is one thing.

Elisa D’Amico I mean, I'm sorry. I'm confused. So, cold emailing is hard. I never did it when I was, you know, a junior scholar, and I wouldn't really, really recommend… I mean, to somebody in your institution, or, like, network to some degree is fine, but, like, super, super famous or super, super… I don't know, busy, probably, senior scholars, it can be hard. I… I would suggest only doing it when you really have something to show, and you have, like, a full idea, and not just for vague, a vague chat. Some senior scholars are fine with this, especially if it's more of, like, a… at a conference, like a sideline thing, like, do you want to get a coffee? That can work more frequently, but, like. You will often get annoyed, and maybe… Yeah, you often get ignored if you come to them with nothing. I've cold emailed famous scholars twice with a research project idea with results that I was, like, fully, like.

Elisa D’Amico the program was, like, fully established, but I was, like, concise, and I was, like, just asked if they were interested. They never emailed me back, but the other I'm not writing this paper with, and so it's, you know, a hit or miss, but I would never suggest to go to one of these scholars without Again, outside of, like, a sideline chat at a conference without, a plan. I mean, you can have a plan at whatever phase you are, and don't take this advice, like, this is just my advice, like, it might work really well for you. keep it short. Definitely… don't, like, allow it to be too long with some of these, like, very long, like, AI-generated emails with different bolding, like, it should be concise and, like. like, don't be too vague about why you want to talk to them, like, I know you're an expert on this, I ran this analysis, I'm wondering if you're interested in partnering on this, I think it could be really cool, and I would, like, love your advice, because, like, you know, like, make it pointed, and then make it easy for them to say no.

Elisa D’Amico Maybe so that they don't get frustrated or whatever. But yeah, mostly just keep it short. Same thing, pretty much. And like I said, I am much keener to me. I get, like… even I get a lot of, like, emails about Maybe. I mean, sometimes… chatting and mentorship, but oftentimes the division, right, which is normal. But again, recommend short. But I'm, like, much keener to just, like, give brief chats with people at conferences, and this is, again, what I'm talking about, when I talk about some of this, like, one-off like, networking. That could be really valuable. Okay. where people meet, whatever, conferences, small ones, workshops that are several days, summer schools, methods, courses, like, every pre-conference workshop I suggest applying for. Again, mentorship receptions, or sometimes broader mentorship schemes have create a network as well. And then follow up if it's valuable for you.

Elisa D’Amico one of my mentors for some broker, my absent mentor, actually, is now sort of, like, my… here, friend, colleague, because he's, like, very much in my field, and, like, I don't really ask him for professional advice anymore, but, like, I certainly… But that… that relationship mentorship has transition to more of, like, a network relationship, that was also very valuable. Okay… Yeah. So, you want the… again, I'm just… this is a bit reiterating what we've spoken about before, but… You want to show that you were When you come to one of these scholars with something, you want to show that you are very thorough, that, like, you know, you're keen, you're not just, like, spamming, sending out a bunch of emails to everybody. But that, like, there's… a lot of, like, promise that, you know, you'll deliver, not, like, a vague, oh, it would be cool to work on a research project with this, like, with a more senior faculty member. Like.

Elisa D’Amico And then… The fit, of course, but I've already said this, it should be pointed and clear why they're the right fit. And then… women get… I mean, this is not to say… This is not to say don't ask women, I, like, I often talk to, like, women co-authors, mentors, collaborations, etc. But more for you, if you end up on the other side of it, to be mindful that women do get asked far more, and so it's good to create boundaries with yourself about How to respond and encourage and point people in the right direction, things like this. So, this happens, like, when I was saying about mentorship relationship growing and changing, like, the idea is that you slowly will not become their equal, but, like, it's less of, like, a… PhD student-scholar, like, relationship, and it's more of, like, a peer relationship, like, more of an equal collaborator, somebody that you may be first author on, like, the switches, you come to them with ideas, things like this. They can still help you with, like, parts of their… Parts of your, like, career progression, but it's a bit more of a… like, pure, like, situation now. Yes. And then… So, okay, just, like, in sum, it's perfectly fine to have several mentors, often ideal, because then you can get their very, like, niche advice, and also eclectic advice on different things, other perspectives.

Elisa D’Amico on what you're looking for. And then… so I thought it was good to have sort of a niche methods mentor, women in the field mentor, things like this, but not necessary. And then just, like, takeaways for the job market, it's best to talk to somebody that's just been on the job market. It can be valuable to talk to the more senior faculty that are off on search committees as well, but in that very specific way. And then all of the schemes or our programs, this is always really, really valuable, and then even just one-offs, like, don't be afraid of this either, and it's okay if it does end up just being a one-off. You can follow up if you find that that would be valuable for you, but you don't need to. And then, the last thing about, like, sort of a mentor fit, just, like, try to be discerning about It's hard, but try to be discerning about advice that doesn't suit your trajectory, and this is why it's valuable to look for somebody that is maybe, like, the scholar you want to be in a few years as well.

Elisa D’Amico Okay, I shall end there.