Mentorship in Doctoral Education for Pregnant and Newly Parenting Doctoral Students

Abstract

Mentorship is an important component of doctoral program success, providing socialization to the profession and academia, professional development, and psychosocial support. For women in particular, mentoring increases feelings of preparedness, self-esteem, and rates of program completion. Within a gendered institution like academia, which does not support work-life balance, women who experience pregnancy and become parents during their doctoral program may need their mentor to take on different or additional roles. This qualitative study (n = 28) examined the perspectives of doctoral students on the role of mentorship during a pregnancy and transition to motherhood in their health care-related doctoral program. Participants identified the critical impact of mentoring through role modeling, guidance, and psychosocial support. Implications for effective mentorship of pregnant students for mentors and doctoral programs are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.