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CHAPTER 16

Mentoring for Enrichment of Core Academic Values

Shridhar R. Gadre

Introduction

The concept of mentoring has been existing for several centuries, although the word seems to have
acquired its present meaning since the 18th century. It is supposed that the word ‘mentor’ itself
originated from Greek mythology. Three important explanations for the word ‘mentor’ have been
taken from three well-known sources (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, MacMillan Dictionary, and
Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the historical origin and the present definition of the word. “We
acquired ‘mentor’ from the literature of ancient Greece. In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, Odysseus was
away from home fighting and journeying for 20 years. During that time, Telemachus, the son he left as
a babe in arms, grew up under the supervision of Mentor, an old and trusted friend. When the goddess
Athena decided it was time to complete the education of young Telemachus, she visited him disguised
as Mentor and they set out together to learn about his father. Today, we use the word mentor for
anyone who is a positive, guiding influence in another (usually younger) person’s life.” 2

MacMillan Dictionary states, “The noun mentor dates from 1750 and came into English from French.
….In the first hundred years, or so of its use in English, mentor was written with a capital letter,
marking its status as an eponym.”
3
The concept of mentoring is given in some more detail in Allen’s entry in Encyclopaedia
Britannica, which states: “Mentoring, professional relationship between two individuals, usually
a senior and a junior employee in an organization, in which the senior employee teaches the junior
employee about his job, introduces the junior employee to contacts, orients him to the industry and
organization, and addresses social and personal issues that may arise on the job. The mentoring
relationship is different from other organizational relationships (e.g., supervisor-subordinate) in that
the mentoring parties may not formally work together, the issues addressed may include non-work
matters, and the bond between mentor and protégé is usually closer and stronger than that of other
organizational relationships.” 4

Vast literature is available on mentoring, in more recent times in the form of books as well as review
articles (see Additional Readings). Here we are focusing on a few select aspects of mentoring in
higher education. Of immense importance is to understand how mentoring of young students was
done in ancient India and how the graduation addresses given to them brought out the core values.
Although it is an Indian thought, it seems to have been forgotten and may be relevant even in modern
times. This is followed by highlighting academic mentoring in more recent times, mainly from the
19th through to the 21st centuries, with several illustrative examples. Finally, we offer some practical
suggestions for starting a mentoring programme for Ph.D. students and young faculty. These are only
some preliminary thoughts for bringing value addition to our education system through a mentoring
programme.

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