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Exceptional mentorship is the cornerstone of a meaningful graduate school experience. It goes far beyond standard academic advising to a collaborative partnership that fosters professional development, builds resilience, and equips scholars to confidently navigate their careers.
Mentoring is an evolving practice. The tools shared on this page are here to help. Explore the comprehensive collection of evidence-based resources for our community to learn how to build a supportive mentoring network, enhance your leadership skills, and navigate challenging conversations.
Explore resources tailored to your role:
- For Faculty Mentors: Discover actionable frameworks for constructive feedback, equity-minded mentoring toolkits, and guides for supporting student well-being.
- For Graduate Students: Access practical field guides, career exploration tools, and strategies to help you proactively manage and maximize your mentoring relationships.
- For Program Leadership: Explore structural guidance, satisfaction surveys, and assessment tools designed to cultivate a culture of inclusive, high-quality mentoring within your department.
Mentoring Resources
The Art and Science Development Series
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A Four-Part Development Series:
For 100 years at Duke, mentoring and professional relationships have fueled the academic and research progress of faculty and students in The Graduate School. What have we learned, and how do we mentor effectively with the evolving needs of today's students?
Integrating evidence-based case studies with insights from the “helping professions” of counseling and coaching, these two series integrate the art of relational attunement with the science of structured, evidence-based mentoring and professional relationships.
The sessions are developed and co-led by Maria Wisdom, Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, and Yan Li, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs.
Choosing your mentorship development path
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Explore professional development opportunities
TGS bases its mentor workshop content on evidence-based curricula developed by the Center for Improved Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) as well as frameworks and tools drawn from professional helping disciplines such as counseling and coaching.
If you do not see information about upcoming workshops on this site, please reach out to Maria LaMonaca Wisdom for more details.
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Book a one-on-one consultation
Duke Graduate School leadership works as a team to provide consultation for any Ph.D. program, faculty mentor, or graduate student who would like individualized guidance on questions related to mentoring. All consultations will be treated as confidential as allowed by Duke's mandatory reporting policies.
Use the contact form below this section to book a consultation with a member of The Graduate School leadership team.
- Requests from faculty mentors, DGSs/DGSAs and other graduate program leaders will be shared with Maria LaMonaca Wisdom, Graduate School Campus Partner and Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement.
- Requests from graduate students will be shared with Melissa Bostrom, Senior Assistant Dean for Professional Development and the Graduate Student Affairs team.
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See examples of mentoring in practice
Visit The Duke Mentoring Commons, a virtual gathering place for mentors to share with one another — and with the campus community — the diversity, vibrancy and power of impactful mentoring relationships at Duke.
Learn from The Graduate School's recipients of the Dean's Awards for Excellence in Mentoring.
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Browse resources on mentoring
We invite you to consult our curated recommendations and resource pages for (1) faculty mentors, (2) graduate student mentees, or (3) DGSs, DGSAs, and other graduate program leaders.
Cultivating a Culture of Mentoring
Alongside research and teaching, mentoring sits at the core of Duke’s mission. Like teaching, mentoring supports the learning and growth of others. Yet mentoring is distinctive because of its direct, proven impact on academic and career success, and how it is embedded within respectful, collegial, and reciprocal relationships of care.
Because of its highly relational aspect, mentoring is often more art than science. There is no one right way to mentor, because relationships are shaped by individual, disciplinary, and contextual differences. Yet without a shared understanding of what mentoring is—within departments and programs as well as between mentors and mentees—misunderstandings and misaligned expectations can proliferate. Both mentors and mentees also benefit from shared expectations for their work together, strong communication and interpersonal skills, and high levels of trust and mutual respect.