Mentorship Series: Beatriz Carmona and Laura Bellows
April 21, 2025
As a graduate student, having a positive relationship with your mentor is the linchpin of your success, but how do you build these crucial ties and get the mentoring you need?
This academic year, we’re interviewing faculty-graduate student pairs about what makes their mentoring relationships work. From practical tips to broader perspectives, these Q&As will equip you with ideas and tactics for improving your own mentoring relationships.
This week, we’re speaking with Beatriz Carmona, a Ph.D. candidate in nutrition, and Laura Bellows, associate professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences.
At-a-Glance
For Mentees:
- Consistently, openly, and honestly communicate with your mentor, as communication is central to all relationships.
- Be flexible, curious, and willing to take risks to make the most of your graduate school journey.
- Work to view situations from both perspectives: mentee and mentor.
For Mentors:
- Prioritize the fit of potential mentees rather than focusing solely on their academic achievement.
- Recognize each mentee as an individual with different goals, skills, and mentoring needs.
- Establish clear and consistent channels of communication.
Beatriz Carmona, Ph.D. Candidate in Nutrition
How did you identify your mentoring needs and how has that self-understanding helped shape your approach to find, foster, and engage in mentoring relationships?
As a mentee, I am always self-evaluating and identifying areas where I can benefit from mentorship and am lucky to be able to comfortably voice these needs as they evolve! A helpful exercise for introspection in this regard is visualizing your precise long-term goals (e.g., who you want to be as a scientist) and identifying what skills you need to achieve them. My advisor has been hugely supportive in helping me to visualize and work towards these goals; since my first week of graduate school, she has implemented a weekly reflection for us to set, act upon, and reflect on “SMART” (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals. Having these weekly SMART goal exercises documented throughout the past few years has been a powerful catalyst to my growth as a student! These goals have allowed me to best leverage mentorship to build the skills that I need.
How do you collaboratively identify and establish mutual expectations around communication, conflict resolution, and other key areas to best work and grow together?
I think the best way to figure out core mutual expectations is to consistently, openly, and honestly communicate with your mentor. Communication is central to all relationships, and approaching this practice with a sense of trust and respect for your mentor is invaluable! You can’t just wait for someone to guess how you’re feeling – collaboratively and openly figuring out expectations for how to best work together will serve you well in the long run.
What is your best advice for students looking to create and maintain a positive relationship with a mentor?
I think a good strategy to maintain a positive relationship with a mentor is to picture yourself in their shoes – regarding the responsibilities and expectations that they have to balance – and just try to see things from their perspective. There are countless things that are on their plate that you may not be able to see. It’s important to remember this as you navigate the process of working with your mentor and with anyone else – just as you might have to carry an unprecedented burden one day and hope that others might hold space for you, the same could be said for others. Beyond this, an overall positive outlook in your day-to-day life is truly transformative!
What does it mean to you personally to be a good mentee and partner in a mentor-mentee relationship?
To me, a good mentee is flexible, curious, and willing to take risks! Everyone’s graduate school journey is unique, but we’re all going through a process of incredible scientific and professional growth. Our mentors are here to help us in this process, and I think it’s important for mentees to maintain a sense of excitement when it comes to receiving mentorship! Enthusiasm and open-mindedness are two incredibly important traits to exercise, and they are contagious in the best way possible.
What do you believe is the key to success in a productive mentor-mentee relationship?
In my opinion, a productive mentor-mentee relationship is one that is bound by consistent and open communication, respect for one another, and enthusiasm for the shared responsibilities of your roles. These terms require time to cultivate, but they are super valuable – both for your graduate school journey, and your future career as you encounter other professional relationships. At the end of the day, we’re all just human and trying to figure things out while supporting each other! Maintaining a sense of sympathy and perspective in this regard can transform how you work with others.
Laura Bellows, Associate Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences
What positive or negative experiences inform your approach to mentorship or help shape your philosophy?
I have had fantastic mentors throughout my student and academic career. My Ph.D. was a bit unconventional as I was working as a research assistant when the opportunity presented itself for me to do a Ph.D. while working. My advisor was also my supervisor who I had worked with for three years prior to committing to the Ph.D. Because we had a strong working relationship already established, I did not have the same hiccups as some of my cohort peers. That said, I also recognized the need to broaden my mentorship team to expand my views and approach to research. By doing this it also made me appreciate my mentor more. My positive mentoring relationships certainly contribute to my mentoring style and philosophy. I prioritize fit over pure academic achievement; I focus on strengths of students and seek diversity in thought and lived experience. I relish thinking outside of the box, and my mentor was so good at bringing in students who complimented what we were working on but who had the potential to stretch our thinking. I have carried this approach with me.
What makes mentoring important to you?
As an educator, mentoring is one of my most favorite parts of the job. Mentoring students through the academy as well as their educational activities is important. Academia can be a big black box with the ‘unwritten’ curriculum. I view my role as a facilitator of students’ learning journeys to help them reach their potential and professional goal(s). I start with understanding what their goal is or, if they don’t yet know, assisting them in discovering and articulating what their goals are. Often students don’t know what they don’t know, so I try to expose students to a variety of opportunities to help them build their goals. I emphasis the importance for students to develop their own path to reach their goals, and I see my role as helping to put them on their path, keep them from straying too far, and/or nudging a change in course when needed. Sometimes the path is a straight line and other times, it zig-zags. I often remind students that everyone’s path is unique and not to compare themselves to other students. Building their skills and capabilities to reach their goals are an important part of mentoring and so is building their confidence and agency. Celebrating accomplishments, small, large, and everything in between, is something I try to do, as it contributes to their confidence while also building a supportive community amongst students. It is so rewarding to see your students succeed and celebrate with them.
How do you collaboratively identify and establish mutual expectations around communication, conflict resolution, and other key areas to best work and grow together?
There are several components of inclusive mentorship that I emphasize. First and foremost is establishing clear and consistent communication channels as these are foundational to having a positive mentor-mentee relationship. I emphasize the importance of a bidirectional relationship in that I expect to learn from them as they learn from me. Learning may be content-related but is often process-oriented; understanding what works for them, where they struggle, and what help they need all assist them in accomplishing their work. Each student has different strengths, areas for growth, values, and ways of thinking and processing information. Understanding who a student is holistically, and for them to understand who I am, how I think and operate, and what my other demands are, allows us to understand each other’s expectations. In our lab, we communicate in groups and individually and each serve different purposes. Our project meetings allow us to accomplish our research objectives and afford students opportunities for group/peer mentoring, exposure to new and different thinking, and skill development. It builds a sense of shared expectations. In individual mentoring meetings, we start each semester with setting goals and discussing students’ plans to achieve these goals and what supports are needed. These goals anchor their work for the semester and are mutually agreed upon. For accountability (for both for the student and myself), students provide a weekly ‘Friday Update’ by email. Students summarize what they worked on during the week, their plans for the following week, and what they need from me. These updates serve two purposes – they help students monitor their progress toward their semester goals and plan their time accordingly and provide me insight into what is working well, where they may need some direction, or when they may need a morale boost. Being present, whether in person or virtually, in communications is so important to building a strong mentor-mentee relationship.
What is your process to review and refine your mentoring agreement to ensure it is timely and contextually relevant based upon the mentee’s academic and professional standing and progress? For example, needs for a pre A-exam student will be different from those of a doctoral candidate on the job market.
Each semester we set goals and based on these I assess what support the student will need. If a student has a big milestone, like their A or B exams, we will outline a timeline, what is needed, benchmarks, etc., so that they feel they have clear expectations as well as support along the way. I also try to be very transparent with students and help them establish realistic expectations. Everything takes longer than they expect, and students often underestimate time and effort that is needed, not just by them but for others to contribute where needed (e.g., review drafts, set up meetings with committee members, etc.). I tend to tailor my approach based on who the student is and how they have performed thus far. This allows for an individualized versus one-size-fits-all approach.
What do you believe is the key to success in a productive mentor-mentee relationship?
Communication and being nimble! Having a good relationship starts with solid communication. Being nimble is important both in how I work with students as well as for guiding students on their projects. No student is the same; they have different learning styles, temperaments, interests, values, goals, etc. They are also not me, nor do I expect them to be. Understanding who the student is holistically and being flexible in how I mentor has been key to having a successful mentee-mentor relationship. I recognized long ago the need to tailor my approach to each student while being true to my values and expectations. Having open communication about what is working or not helps me adapt my mentoring as needed. It’s also important to recognize when it is not a good fit and move on as early as possible, as it does no one any favors to force a relationship. A colleague may be a better fit and give the student a fantastic experience. Mentoring can be both rewarding and challenging, and good communication and being nimble have helped me have productive relationships with my students.