Choosing a mentor is one of the most important decisions you will make in graduate school, one that will shape your experience from beginning to end during your education and that will likely affect the entire trajectory of your academic career thereafter. However, there will be times when one mentor just doesn’t cut it. And that’s fine, actually. In fact, it’s widely appreciated that having multiple mentors is not just okay but actively beneficial for your growth as a student, a professional, and even as an individual (see sources at the end of this article).
Before we start, let’s define exactly what we mean by “mentor.” For grad students, the term is usually used interchangeably with that of their thesis advisor. However, this need not be the case. Not only is it possible to have more than one thesis advisor (complicated and rare, but it does happen), but your mentor does not have to be just this one individual.
In fact, your possible mentors do not even need to be faculty members within your department or your institution or even faculty members at all. Mentors can be postdoctoral fellows, other grad students, or professionals in other fields. For the purposes of this essay, then, I am defining “mentor” to mean anyone to whom you go for advice and guidance, for whatever reason. And, under this broad definition, when it comes to mentors, more is definitely better.
Having multiple mentors comes with a myriad of benefits. These include:
1. Having an increased diversity of perspectives
You will likely choose your mentor because you feel that they have something valuable to teach you. They will be someone who is an expert in their field and has made noteworthy accomplishments from which you wish to learn. However, no one, no matter how learned in any discipline, is a master of every arena. In fact, the more well-versed an individual is one particular facet, the more likely it is that this expertise has come at the expense of some other area. Simply put, no one is a master at everything.
For this reason, having multiple mentors means that you have the knowledge and perspectives of multiple seasoned experts at your disposal. Sometimes this expertise can be incredibly narrow, such as someone with extensive working knowledge of a particular technique or niche field germane to your pursuits. Sometimes it can be broad, such as someone who provides general career advice. Even two individuals with highly similar levels of expertise in similar fields will likely have a fresh perspective on matters from which to draw, another point of view on how to solve whatever problem you’re presently facing.
This advice doesn’t even have to be directly related to your academic career. Sometimes you just need a trusted individual who has faced similar circumstances and trials to you to confide in and relate to. Our emotional needs are no less substantial than our professional ones, and we ignore them to our own hurt. The point is, our needs are multifaceted, and having multiple mentors provides you with that many more resources to address them.
2. Access to a larger professional network
One of the most valuable things which our mentors provide us is access to the network of people they know. Each of us requires connections and opportunities in order to advance in our careers, and making these connections is infinitely easier when they are facilitated by individuals familiar to and trusted by both parties. Our mentors will not have made themselves unassisted.
To get where they are, they will have had to forge a multitude of relationships, collaborations, and even friendships with other professionals within and without their field. As their protégé, you are admitted into this circle of connections, and with multiple mentors, the reach of this professional network expands all the more. For this reason, especially, it can be advantageous to avail yourself of mentorship opportunities with individuals outside your institution. Although the work required to maintain a remote relationship may be greater, it can result in connections that would otherwise be unavailable to you.
3. More schedule availability
High-level professionals are invariably busy people, and our professors are no exception to this rule. While some students will enjoy a more hands-off approach to mentorship, inevitably, you will need help and advice from someone, and there’s a decent chance that, at any given time, your thesis advisor will be unavailable to provide it right then and there.
Having more than one mentor can provide you with a fallback for when your first option is out of reach. However, if your other mentor(s) is/are official, this can create its own complications. For example, if your other mentor(s) is/are on your thesis advisory committee, it will be up to you to coordinate schedules and find a time when all concerned parties can meet together. As such, scheduling can be one arena where having multiple mentors can be a double-edged sword.
4. More emotional support
As I alluded to previously, mentors are not just there to provide you with professional and career advice. Just as important as figuring out that tricky assay that’s been giving you null results or getting a recommendation on good reading material for your thesis is being able to cope with the substantial stresses of high-level academic and professional life. Your mentors are people as well. They have gone through - and still walk - the crucible of academia, and they know how emotionally exhausting it can be. So, when you just need an ear to listen to or a shoulder to cry on, these can be some of the absolute best people to whom to turn.
So, when finding your way through academia, don’t hesitate to reach beyond just your thesis advisor. Anyone from whom you can learn can be a mentor, and each one is an invaluable font of knowledge, experience, and wisdom from which you can draw.
