Mentoring expert, Tim Cavell, addresses the challenges of generalizing the concept of mentoring
Experts’ Corner: Mentoring in the era of COVID-19
From the ‘Mentoring in the era of COVID-19: Nine experts in the field weigh in’ article by Justin Preston and Monica Arkin
Dr. Tim Cavell, a Professor with the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas, has found this generalized concept of mentoring a major challenge, noting the difficulty of “conducting research in a field where the intervention is theoretically underspecified while the practice culture and program strategies are firmly instantiated.” That is, attempting to conduct research and identify best practices in a subject area where those active in the field are certain how mentoring should be implemented without necessarily having clarity on what exactly mentoring is.