Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers

What can researchers gain from mentors with different expertise?

This observational study examines how graduate and postdoctoral mentorship relate to later academic careers. It asks whether combining ideas from mentors with different expertise predicts a trainee's subsequent success.

What the study found

• Postdoctoral mentorship was more strongly associated with the study's career outcomes than graduate mentorship.
• Trainees were more likely to succeed when they integrated the distinct expertise of their graduate and postdoctoral mentors.

How the study works

The analysis follows 18,856 researchers with both graduate and postdoctoral training, using an open mentorship database concentrated in biomedical science and neuroscience.

Scope and limitations

• The relationships are observational and should not be interpreted as proof that changing a mentor causes a particular career outcome.
• The study's academic-career measures and disciplinary coverage do not capture every form of research success.

Abstract

As academic careers become more competitive, junior scientists need to understand the value that mentorship brings to their success in academia. Previous research has found that, unsurprisingly, successful mentors tend to train successful students. But what characteristics of this relationship predict success, and how? We analyzed an open-access database of 18,856 researchers who have undergone both graduate and postdoctoral training, compiled across several fields of biomedical science with an emphasis on neuroscience. Our results show that postdoctoral mentors were more instrumental to trainees’ success compared to graduate mentors. Trainees’ success in academia was also predicted by the degree of intellectual synthesis between their graduate and postdoctoral mentors. Researchers were more likely to succeed if they trained under mentors with disparate expertise and integrated that expertise into their own work. This pattern has held up over at least 40 years, despite fluctuations in the number of students and availability of independent research positions.

Abstract from the original work, reproduced under its Creative Commons license. The overview above summarizes the study.

Cite this work

Jean F Liénard, Titipat Achakulvisut, Daniel E Acuna, Stephen V David (2018). Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers. Nature communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07034-y

@article{lienard2018intellectual,
  title = {Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers},
  author = {Li{\'e}nard, Jean F and Achakulvisut, Titipat and Acuna, Daniel E and David, Stephen V},
  year = {2018},
  publication_date = {2018-11-27},
  journal = {Nature communications},
  volume = {9},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1--13},
  publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-07034-y},
  url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07034-y}
}