Graduate Students’ Experiences with Missing Mentorship

Graduate students can face various challenges academically, personally, and professionally during their studies. Previous research has shown that these challenges can impact the mental health of graduate students and can lead to feelings of isolation and higher rates of anxiety and depression. Mentorship is one way to support graduate students and can increase graduate student success. In this study, the researchers examined graduate students’ experiences with problematic mentorship.

In this study, 54 masters and PhD students from different disciplines participated in focus groups about their experiences with mentoring and mentorship. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed to identify themes in the discussions.

The major theme identified from the focus group discussions was “falling through the cracks,” which involved feelings of isolation, uncertainty around expectations for graduate work, and students feeling that they were not making progress. Many focus group participants reported that their expectations of support were not met and that they had difficulty finding supportive mentors. The study participants described how poor mentorship negatively impacted their mental health, motivation, and ability to work. International students described additional barriers to accessing mentorship and the difficulties they faced navigating university systems. Focus group participants also described how university structures may undermine mentoring. For example, students may not have ways to provide feedback about mentors or report problematic mentors and universities or departments may not have initiatives to facilitate mentorship.