My post on gender in academia was reposted at CENtral Science this week, and an interesting discussion was sparked in the comments & continued on Twitter.

Are women in science getting less mentoring than our male colleagues? Or do women need/want more mentoring?

Go check out the comments.

There was another response on Twitter today:

On one level, I think there’s some truth – maybe not so much related to time spent writing grants, but that both men and women feel that they’re not getting the mentoring they need. Indeed this was a theme in a recent ASBMB survey. But this sparks a number of questions in my mind.

Are trainees really getting less mentoring? Or, is there more awareness of the need for mentoring?

Is there a disparity between the formal mentoring we’re getting and what we think we need? Are we getting some of the mentoring without realizing it in the moment?

Have mentoring needs changed over the last few decades?

Should we be looking beyond our “traditional” mentors (e.g. direct supervisors or committee members)? (On this point, I say unequivocally, yes.)

Are we seeking out the mentoring we need, or do we expect it to come to us? We have some responsibility of taking charge of our mentoring. This is my career, after all, and no one has a more vested interest in it than me. So, as a mentee, how do I manage mentoring?

How do we shift the culture of science to more broadly value the importance of mentoring (not just for academic, but for all, career tracks)? Or are we already there?

There are dozens of questions, many more answers. This is an open thread of mentoring. Have at it.