Mentorship in Higher Education

As a formal educational instrument, mentorship has received increasing academic and professional interest over the last several decades. Formal or informal mentorship programs are seen as an innovative means of supporting organizational goals and addressing diversity in executive leadership. Most of the attention has been toward mentorship in a professional context, but mentorship also plays a crucial role in the development of both graduate students and faculty members.

This book explores the theoretical and practical insights into the use of mentorships within higher education. The research published here show that mentorship matters because it actively encourages faculty to pay it forward, advancing opportunities for students and faculty, focusing on the development of students, and pushing mentors to consider how mentorship can be used to work in a diverse and changing society. The purpose of this book is to help develop the understanding of mentorship, highlight its importance, and hopefully progress the discussion forward with new actions in the field.

This volume will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of education, public policy and public administration. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Public Affairs Education.

Sara R. Rinfret, Ph.D., is Associate Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs, and Professor of public administration at Northern Arizona University, USA. She teaches and researches in the areas of regulatory policy and environmental policy. She also serves as the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Affairs Education.

Sarah L. Young, Ph.D., is Professor of public administration at Kennesaw State University, USA, where she serves as the Director of Research for CARE Services, a campus support program for students who experienced foster care or homelessness. She is also the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Affairs Education.

Bruce D. McDonald III is a professor of public budgeting and finance at NC State University, USA. He is the editor-in-chief of Public Administration, co-editor-in-chief of Public Finance Journal, and general editor for both the Routledge Public Affairs Education Book Series and the Routledge Public Budgeting and Finance Book Series.