Building Your Professional Mentoring Network

Professional Mentoring

About this Course

The purpose of this course is to provide individuals who are interested in, working toward, or working in STEMM, with an introduction to the concept of mentorship networks and how mentorship networks can be used to advance one’s career. By taking this course, we expect learners to:


  • Understand the value of mentorship and mentorship networks

  • Identify personal and professional goals and mentorship needs

  • Develop skills in creating a mentorship network, utilizing different types of resources and tools

  • Discover best practices for maintaining and sustaining a mentorship network


Course Contents

This course is intended for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, junior faculty and other scientists.


This course is split up into 5 modules, with each module containing activities and opportunities to practice essential skills in building a mentorship network. 

Each module should take about 30-40 minutes to complete and must be completed in order.

The topics covered in this course include:

  1. Introduction to the Importance of Mentoring and Building a Network of Mentors

  2. Self-Assessment and Identifying Goals

  3. Assessing and Building Your Network

  4. Maintaining Your Network

  5. Becoming a Mentor: The Lifecycle of Mentoring


This course is meant to be introductory in nature. As such, we recommend interested individuals to download the “Resources” PDF, available at the end of the course, should they wish to further their study on this topic.

Course Authors

  • Alexandra Kuvaeva, PhD

  • Felicia Setiono, PhD

  • Amanda Carbajal, PhD

  • Marcus Lambert, PhD

  • Toufeeq Syed, PhD, MS

Course Administrators

  • Katie Stinson, MLIS - Project Manager - Editor, Syed Lab

  • Paul Warhurst, PhD - Instructional Designer, Syed Lab

Instrumental Persons

We would also like to recognize the contributions of the following people who shared in the implementation of this course on MyNRMN:


  • Fátima Sancheznieto, PhD
  • Erik Simmons, PhD
  • Yaihara Fortis Santiago, PhD
  • Adaira Landry, MD, MEd
  • Maria Lima, PhD
  • Kimberly Griffin, PhD
  • Chloe Lopez-Lee, PhD
  • Ifé Akano, PhD
  • Beverly Rabbitts, PhD
  • Justine Lottermoser, PhD
  • Precious McQuade, Doctoral Student and career Naval Officer

Course Thumbnail Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash