By Hannah Pantos

While this is not always the case, most mentors tend to work with mentees who are younger than they are. Even if mentors are close in age to their mentees, chances are, the experiences each individual has had in professional environments will vary. What this means for mentors and mentees alike is that the relationship they have will open them both up to different perspectives and insights, granting them both the ability to view the world through unique lenses and even envision fresh ideas as a result.

Mentors especially benefit from this development; experienced professionals may find that they are prone to getting comfortable with tradition and habit, but working with mentees can encourage unparalleled innovation and creativity. For mentees, learning from mentors who have more industry knowledge and experience than they do means they are able to quickly become immersed in the culture of a company or industry, giving them an advantage when it comes to acclimation and adjustment.

By working with a younger generation, older mentors can stay in touch with the attitudes, priorities, and thought patterns of younger professionals, giving them a better idea of how the future may look. Mentoring can be an intimate experience that lends a uniquely personal insight into what matters to young professionals and how companies can work to attract and retain skilled team members from younger generations.

Expanding perspectives can help keep work exciting and facilitate the discovery of new ideas or solutions. Mentors and mentees are often open to change and new ideas, making them more adaptable, collaborative, and resilient team members.

Develop a Critical Support System and Create Lasting Relationships

For mentees, developing strong professional relationships can make a significant difference in lasting success and career growth. Mentors can help inexperienced professionals make informed decisions, pursue productive paths, and feel confident in their abilities. These early relationships can give mentees a supportive structure that promotes greater success and satisfaction.

Mentors also benefit from these professional relationships; mentees often boast more optimistic and open-minded attitudes that encourage mentors to see things differently and embrace innovation. Being a mentor to someone can foster productivity and a sense of purpose, which can help prevent cynicism and dissatisfaction.

Become a Better Leader and Foster the Leaders of Tomorrow

Leadership skills must be cultivated over time through continual effort and growth. Mentoring others can help experienced professionals keep their leadership skills sharp and encourage them to resist complacency. The nature of a mentorship relationship means that mentors are intrinsically pressured to meet high standards for themselves, forcing them to strive for higher accomplishments so as to lead by example and demonstrate to their mentees the importance of hard work, diligence, and resilience.

An exciting feature of mentoring relationships is the connection between generations. Mentors are most often older than their mentees, and the age gap can permit productive discussions of innovation and creativity that foster improved leadership skills among all involved parties. Mentors and mentees are encouraged to remember that they have the potential to learn from each other in different ways, and the more open they are to this possibility, the more productive their relationship will be.

Leaders who actively participate in the education, training, and encouragement of future leaders are often more likely to get promoted, perform better, and embrace necessary changes. Likewise, mentees who receive proper guidance and support from dedicated mentors tend to be better equipped to tackle difficult situations and more eager to rise to challenges as they present themselves. Like other skills, leadership can be taught, and through mentoring efforts, participants can foster and advance this essential skill.

Achieve Career Success and Promote Opportunities

As previously suggested, mentoring offers a host of benefits to all participants, and in this way, mentors and mentees often experience increased success in career efforts and opportunities. By mentoring someone, professionals can refresh their industry knowledge, learn more about the industry and the world at large, and reinvigorate their passion for the work they do. Mentors, then, may be better prepared to make holistic, innovative decisions that more accurately reflect on current practices and perspectives rather than tradition or habit.

Mentees, of course, are positioned well when receiving guidance and support; by accepting the insight, advice, and encouragement of their mentors, mentees may experience quicker career growth and more growth opportunities in general because of their knowledge and willingness to learn.

Mentoring efforts are generally considered to produce symbiotic relationships. Mentees and mentors benefit in the short- and long-term through improved network relationships, enhanced skill sets, and innovative attitudes that embrace change and creativity as necessary. The life-changing effects of mentoring on mentees and mentors alike demonstrate how integral such positive, formative, and intimate professional relationships are in business. I believe that endorsing mentoring initiatives and programs, especially for disenfranchised individuals who might lack access to valuable resources and support systems, is the key to improving the productivity and satisfaction of future professionals in any industry.

By Richard Thompson

As the new year begins, we rank the top EdTech higher education articles, based on clicks by readers like you.

We’ve been crunching the numbers, and your votes are in. Here’s the countdown of the top EdTech stories about the college world in 2024, based on readership.

Nearly half of the stories in our top 7 involve the impact that AI tools like ChatGPT are having on campuses. No surprise there, considering that just about every week brings new AI products, and students rushing to social media to share how they’re using them on assignments. But the No. 1 story was about how to provide adequate education to those who can’t view screens.

Many of the top stories raise fundamental questions about higher education. How much should college cost (and what are people really paying)? What resources should be offered (in places like the campus library)? How should teaching change for a group of students whose studies and social lives were disrupted by COVID-19 (and instructors who had a crash-course in online teaching)? And when did so many high school students start taking community college courses (and what does that mean for college access)?

The year ahead promises to raise plenty of surprising new questions. Whatever happens, we look forward to sharing what we learn with you. Thanks for reading!

7. Online Teaching Is Improving In-Person Instruction on Campus

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced instructors around the world to try online education, something unexpected has happened: Professors have found that there are some online teaching methods that work better than what can be done in the limits of a physical classroom, argues Robert Ubell, a longtime leader of online education efforts.

6. Are Colleges Ready For an Online-Education World Without OPMs?

A longtime administrator of online programs at colleges says he has mixed feelings about the idea of shutting down a model that has helped many institutions start offering online degrees, but which gave support companies a large cut of online revenue. He says the question boils down to: Are colleges ready for a world without OPMs?

5. Do Shocking College Tuition Prices Reflect What Students Actually Pay?

More high schoolers say they’re unsure about college, in part because of the huge tuition price tags. But there’s a difference between the cost of attendance and what students actually pay on average, an EdTech analysis finds. Find out how students can get a more accurate estimate for tuition.

4. To Understand ChatGPT’s Impact on Higher Education, Think Like a Scientist

Two leaders from Columbia University argue that scientific research should be used to study the impact of ChatGPT and other AI tools on higher education — and they offer three research approaches to better understand how to use them.

3. A Technologist Spent Years Building an AI Chatbot Tutor. He Decided It Can’t Be Done.

Companies and technologists are rushing to apply the latest AI chatbots to fulfill the long-held dream of building a personalized digital tutor. But at least one longtime AI developer argues that it isn’t possible, and that the best use of AI is to assist human tutors and teachers, not replace them.

2. What Brings Gen Z to the Library?

Young people look to libraries to provide safe places to hang out and to access resources like free Wi-Fi, makerspaces and tech equipment — expectations they carry with them to college, according to people who work in and with academic libraries. Here’s how Gen Z is changing the campus library. Surprise: These digital natives still value print.

1. Professors Try ‘Restrained AI’ Approach to Help Teach Writing

Could AI help students improve their writing without totally taking over the process? Two English professors have outlined a vision of “restrained generative AI,” and they’ve built a software tool to test their idea for using technology to turn notes into prose.