A respected scientist approaches you out of concern for a young assistant professor. He had seemed like a rising star as a graduate student but was floundering as a new faculty member. Could you, the scientist wonders, “lean on” the younger colleague a bit?
On her blog, Female Science Professor describes how she found herself confronted with just such a dilemma. What, exactly, does “leaning on” a colleague mean, she asks, and would it motivate him to work harder?
“Mentoring can be a constructive form of leaning, although mentoring is most effective if it involves conversations over time, not a random ‘leaning’ now and then.”
“And even if I did ‘lean’ on my colleague, what would I say?”
Your advice?
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