Motivations for Becoming a Voluntary Mentor: A Case Study on What Experienced Scholars Gain from Mentoring Their Peers

Abstract

Writing Lab, at Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mexico), has become a signature center to enhance the academic production of its nationwide faculty. Unlike other writing centers, Writing Lab is aimed at assisting faculty and at-large collaborators. The mentors are volunteer experienced researchers who are helping interested junior faculty members, the mentees, to develop publication and research skills. Much attention has been given to the development of resources and programs for mentees to complement the mentorship process; however, we lack a clear understanding as to the motivations behind mentors’ enrolment and what we can do to support their mentoring tasks. The research question is “what are the motivations for peer mentoring at Writing Lab within the framework of the institution?”. We created an online survey to collect data from mentors through email (convenient sampling), which were later subjected to text analysis using the SWOT technique approach. The findings report mentors come to Writing Lab seeking recognition, prestige, and new avenues of production without losing sight of their senior status as researchers. Mentorships are structured interactions where the mentor takes a directive role in illustrating and discovering new competences to mentees (traditional model).