How to Be a Better Mentor
Sarah Hokanson (CAS’05), BU’s assistant vice president and assistant provost for research development and PhD and postdoctoral affairs, is the first nonfaculty principal investigator to be named mentor of the year.
How to Be a Better Mentor
BU’s Sarah Hokanson, winner of the National Postdoctoral Association’s 2024 Gallagher Mentor Award, on helping others reach their goals
The best mentors can change your life—they can help you carve new paths, steer through tough times, and hit goals that once seemed out of reach. And one of the country’s best mentors is right here at Boston University: Sarah Hokanson, who leads a suite of programs at BU that benefit postdocs, PhD students, and faculty, has been named the National Postdoctoral Association’s mentor of the year.
Hokanson (CAS’05), the University’s assistant vice president and assistant provost for research development and PhD and postdoctoral affairs, is the winner of the 2024 Gallagher Mentor Award, which recognizes one faculty member or advisor from across the country who has engaged in exceptional mentoring of postdoctoral scholars.
She was nominated for the award by six of her current and former postdocs, and is the first nonfaculty principal investigator (PI) to be given the award. “I am excited to open the door for other staff who are so creative and have many ways of contributing to their institutions,” says Hokanson. “I am an administrator, but I am also a scholar and PI. It means something to me that there is a new model developing for mentoring in higher education.” The award was presented at the association’s annual conference on March 15.
A decade after graduating from BU with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Hokanson returned to the University in 2015 to head up Professional Development & Postdoctoral Affairs, which provides postdocs with resources and support. The office has since expanded to include professional development programming and resources for PhD students and postdocs, as well as research development services to support faculty in obtaining and leading extramural funding programs. Hokanson also serves as a PI of several grant-funded initiatives, including the Postdoc Academy, a $1.8 million National Institutes of Health–funded project focused on providing professional development opportunities for postdocs and mentors nationwide. She also helps lead the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project, a $3 million National Science Foundation–funded initiative.
To learn more about what makes a good mentor, The Brink sat down with Hokanson to discuss her journey as a mentor and her best advice for mentors and mentees.
Q&A
with Sarah Hokanson
The Brink: Congratulations on winning this mentor of the year award! What does being a mentor mean to you?
Hokanson: To me, mentoring is a collaborative learning relationship led by someone with experience—whether it be stage of life experience, lived experience, professional experience, or some other lens. It’s about supporting someone to develop as an individual, rather than trying to mold them into another version of you.
The Brink: Drawing on your research and practice, what makes a good mentor?
Hokanson: An effective mentor can look beyond their own goals to really see the person they’re working with, for all their unique strengths, ambitions, and needs. Good mentors slow down, set aside assumptions and personal priorities, ask questions, and listen.
At the heart of mentorship is collaboration. For all I have to offer, I’m learning just as much from the people I mentor. When I was first a PI, I felt a pressure to have all the answers. Now I can appreciate that there are many ways to reach a goal and the answers don’t always have to come from me. In my current projects, many of the best ideas are not mine, but my mentees’. I’ve become a stronger mentor as I’ve learned to admit my limits or what I don’t know. There are times I have to say, “Today’s not a good day for this meeting, let’s reschedule so I can be fully present,” or, “That is not my expertise, but let me help you find someone who does know that.” My goal isn’t to be the be-all and end-all to my mentees. My goal is to nurture their independence.
And then also, I believe good mentors have the humility and curiosity to evolve over time. They reflect on their mistakes and learn from them. In the beginning, I wanted so badly for people to feel supported that there were times when I didn’t give real, critical professional feedback. That didn’t always serve them or the mentorship. I’ve been able to learn from those setbacks and use them to build stronger relationships.
The Brink: How do you tailor your mentoring approach to the unique needs and goals of each mentee?
Hokanson: I have a one-on-one meeting when new staff and postdocs start to discuss their goals, strengths, and to ask one simple but transformative question: “Is there anything else you want me to know about you?” It gives them a space to set boundaries and provide a window into how they work and think. I am curious about what they’re bringing to the table and then we build together from there.
The Brink: What can mentees do to make better use of their mentors?
It’s helpful for mentees to think about their goals for the mentorship. If they know and can communicate where guidance or learning would be helpful, it can help mentors provide better, more tailored support. Most often, leveraging any relationship comes down to intentional conversations and preparing for those through self-reflection. The Postdoc Academy developed conversation frameworks to guide folks through this process.
I’d also encourage mentees to search out those environments where they can be a full collaborator and it feels two-sided—where they’re able to contribute intellectually. Where it’s not happening, they should find the resources like our office to help seek out a better environment and better relationships.
The Brink: Do you have specific advice for when a partnership just isn’t working out, on either side—what should people do, what are their options?
I think both mentor and mentee need support in these situations, which can be terribly painful. Mentees should approach people that can both advocate for them and also help them identify a new mentor with the appropriate style and expertise to move forward with. Talking with colleagues like me or that work in offices like mine is a great place to start.
I have personally been in this situation as a mentor, and it was helpful to talk to other mentors that had been through similar types of challenges.
The Brink: Where can mentors at BU go for help with their mentoring skills?
The Office of the Provost has annual Provost Mentor Fellow cohorts, which are multi-session professional development opportunities to enhance mentoring expertise across our schools and colleges; faculty can ask their chair or dean to nominate them to join. I also offer versions of each of the Provost Mentor Fellows workshops in departments or programs by request. There are also wonderful resources from the Clinical & Translational Science Institute and Faculty Development & Diversity on the Medical Campus.
But professional development isn’t the only entry point. Regular, informal conversations about mentoring can be opportunities for growth and reflection. My colleagues and I developed an annotated bibliography of scholarly articles focused on research related to mentoring, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine also has a great set of podcast episodes that are informative and easy to listen to. While researchers have identified some best practices, a lot of mentoring is also rooted in self-reflection and leaning into your own strengths. Spaces to reflect with colleagues are a great starting place.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
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