Mentoring Programs for New Faculty: Unintended Consequences?

Abstract

Formal mentoring programs for new faculty have grown in recent years. Such programs, although having laudable goals, may have unintended undesirable consequences; in this article, we identify several. If individuals who begin careers as faculty members in psychology are deficient in their competence or in the interpersonal skills needed to proactively seek the help of senior colleagues, then the problem may lie in how doctoral programs prepared them.