The Relationship of Mentorship to Career Outcomes in Academic Psychiatry and Psychology: a Needs Assessment

OBJECTIVE: Faculty development is designed to facilitate career advancement of junior faculty but there is limited empirical evidence on how to design an effective program. METHODS: As a first step in the design of an effective program, a needs assessment was conducted. Participants were faculty members of an academic psychiatry department. Participants completed a quantitative and qualitative survey assessing their experience with mentors, academic self-efficacy, career burnout and satisfaction, academic productivity, and perceived barriers to scholarship. RESULTS: Eighty percent (N = 104) of eligible faculty members completed the study survey (54% female; 81% White, 10% underrepresented in medicine). Less than half of the respondents (44%) reported having a current mentor. Number of mentors (r = .33; p < .01), mentorship meetings (r = .35; p < .01), and mentorship quality (r = .33; p < .01) were significantly correlated to a standardized measure of academic self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was significantly associated with academic productivity (r = .44; p < .001) and career satisfaction (r = .29; p < .05). The top barriers to scholarship productivity were time and lack of access to resources. Faculty members without a mentor endorsed more barriers to scholarship (p < .001) than those with a mentor. Themes that emerged from the qualitative data suggest that mentorship supports career advancement through coaching and professional development, invitations to collaborate and resource share, networking, and active teaching. CONCLUSION: Based on the relationship of mentoring to career outcomes, a robust faculty development program needs a formal academic mentorship program to improve career satisfaction and academic productivity.