The Impact of COVID-19 on Formal Mentorship
A Qualitative Study of Social Work Faculty
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/27605Keywords:
Social work faculty, COVID-19, Qualitative, Connection, virtual mentorship, Formal mentorshipAbstract
Despite numerous benefits, formal faculty mentorship remains underutilized within academia. Formal mentorship has been shown to aid faculty in acclimating to the expectations of higher education, assist in balancing work-life obligations, and provide professional and psychosocial support. These areas of formal support and connection are critical given the significant changes and disruptions caused by the pandemic. Through use of a narrative approach, 10 social work faculty who were teaching during the pandemic, as well as mentees in a formal mentoring relationship, were interviewed to explore the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on their experiences with formal mentorship. All participants maintained a virtual connection with their mentor during the pandemic, though two experienced a decrease in communication. Four themes that emerged were how mentors helped mentees frame professional development during the pandemic, the shifting focus and deepening of the mentoring relationship, the adjustment to virtual mentoring, and the impact of faculty and institutional leadership attrition. Implications for higher education as it relates to the provision of formal mentorship as a means to increase a sense of faculty connection and support are explored, particularly within the virtual environment.
References
Abelhamid, K., ElHawary, H., Gorgy, A., & Alexander, N. (2021). Mentorship resuscitation during the COVID-19 pandemicv. AEM Education and Training, 5(1), 132-134. https://doi.org/10.1002/aet2.10538
Allen, T., Eby, L., Poteet, M., Lentz, E., & Lima, L. (2004). Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127-136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89-1.127
Alvarez, A., & Lazzari, M. (2016). Feminist mentoring and relational cultural theory: A case example and implications. Journal of Women and Social Work, 31(1), 41-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099/15612512
Aubry, L., Laverty, T., & Ma, Z. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 on ecology and evolutionary biology faculty in the United States. Ecological Applications, 31(2), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2265
Babcock, A., Cummins, L., & Dinneen, R. (2020). Mentoring in the time of COVID: Reflections from one online university. Learning Assistance Review, 25(2), 1-13.
Bender, S., Brown, K., Hensley Kasitz, D., & Vega, O. (2022). Academic women and their children: Parenting during COVID-19 and the impact on scholarly productivity. Family Relations, 71(1), 46-67. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12632
Bhakta, K., & Medina, M. (2021). Preboarding, orientation, and onboarding of new pharmacy faculty during a global pandemic. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 85(3), 169-172. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8510
Blake-Beard, S. (2001). Taking a hard look at formal mentoring programs: A consideration of potential challenges facing women. Journal of Management Development, 20(4), 331-345. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710110388983
Boyatzis, R. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and coding development. Sage.
Bozeman, B., & Feeney, M. (2007). Towards a useful theory of mentoring: A conceptual analysis and critique. Administration & Society, 39(6), 719-739. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399707304119
Brady, S., & Spencer, M. (2018). Supporting and mentoring new social work instructors: A formative evaluation of the TEAM program. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 18(2), 24-38. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v18i22334
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 37(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp0630a
Brown, J. (2021) ‘Excuse the cat’: Reflections on online mentoring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical Education, 55(6), 673-675. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14445
Buckley, H. (2020). Faculty development in the COVID-19 pandemic: So close – yet so far. Medical Education, 54(2), 1189-1190. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14250
Butina, M. (2015). A narrative approach to qualitative inquiry. Clinical Laboratory Science, 28(3), 190-196. https://doi.org/10.29074/ascls.28.3.190
Camacho, D., & Legare, J. (2021). Pivoting to online learning – The future of learning and work. Journal of Competency-based Education, 6(1), 1239-1247. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbe2.1239
Casacchia, M., Cifone, M., Giusti, L., Fabiani, L., Gatto, R., Lancia, L., Cinque, B., Petrucci, C., Giannoni, M., Ippoliti, R., Frattaroli, A., Macchiarelli, G., & Roncone, R. (2021). Distance education during COVID-19: An Italian survey on the university teachers’ perspectives and their emotional conditions. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 335-352. https://doi.org/10/1186/s12909-021-02780-y
Dempsey, A., Lanzier, N., Luce, V., de Leon, C., Malhotra, J., & Heckman, A. (2022). Faculty respond to COVID-19: Reflections-on-action in field education. Clinical Social Work, 50, 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00787-y
Denson, N., Szelenyi, K., & Bresonis, K. (2018). Correlates of work-life balance for faculty across racial/ethnic groups. Research in Higher Education, 59, 226-247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9464-0
Eby, L., Allen, T., Evans, S., Ng, T., & DuBois, D. (2008). Does mentoring matter? A multidisciplinary meta-analysis comparing mentored and non-mentored individuals. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72, 254-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.04.005
Egege, S., & Kutieleh, S. (2015). Peer mentors as a transition strategy at university: Why mentoring needs to have boundaries. Australian Journal of Education, 59(3), 265-277. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004944115604697
Espino, M., & Zambrana, R. (2019). How do you advance here? How do you survive? An exploration of under-represented minority faculty perceptions of mentoring modalities. Review of Higher Education, 42(2), 457-484. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.003
Fay, D., & Ghadimi, A. (2020). Collective bargaining during times of crisis: Recommendations from the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Administration Review, 80(5), 815-819. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13233
Fernandez, A., & Shaw, G. (2020). Academic leadership in a time of crisis: The Coronavirus and COVID-19. Journal of Leadership Studies, 14(1), 39-45. https://doi.org/10.1002/js2.1684
Filho, W., Wall, T., Rayman-Bacchus, L., Mifsud, M., Pritchard, D., Lovren, V., Farinha, C., Petrovic, D., & Balogun, A. (2021). Impacts of COVID-19 and social isolation on academic staff and students at universities: A cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 21, 1213-1232. https://doi.org/10.1186/s/2889-021-11040-2
Haidusek-Niazy, S., Huyler, D., & Carpenter, R. (2023). Mentorship reconsidered: A case study of K-12 teachers’ mentor-mentee relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Psychology of Education, 26, 1269-1288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-023-09788-w
Hickson, H. (2016). Becoming a critical narrativist: Using critical reflection and narrative inquiry as research methodology. Qualitative Social Work, 15(3), 380-391. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325015617344
Hjálmsdóttir, A., & Bjarnadóttir, V. (2021). “I have turned into a foreman here at home”: Families and work-life balance in times of COVID-19 in a gender equality paradise. Gender, Work, and Organization, 28, 268-283. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12552
Holcomb, D. (2024). Social work leadership attitudes on formal mentorship: Impact on field directors. Field Educator, 14(1), 1-20. https://fieldeducator.simmons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/23-324-Social-Work-Departmental-Leadership-Attitudes-on-Formal-Mentorship-1.pdf
Irish, C., Wells, M., Davis, J., Peck, K., & Clayton, C. (2023). Pandemic innovations in teacher education: Communities of practice, mentoring, and technology. Education Sciences, 13(7), 653-666. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070653
Jackson, K., Latimer, L., & Stoiko, R. (2017). The dynamic between knowledge production and faculty evaluation: Perceptions of the promotion and tenure process across disciplines. Journal of Innovative Higher Education, 42, 193-205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-016-9378-3
Johnson, W. (2016). On being a mentor: A guide for higher education faculty. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315669120
Junn, J., Whitman, G., Wasnik, A., Wang, M., Guelfguat, M., Goodman, E., & Middlebrooks, E. (2023). Virtual mentoring: A guide to navigating a new age in mentorship. Academic Radiology, 30(4), 749-754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2022.08.014
Kasymova, S., Place, J., Billings, D., & Aldape, J. (2021). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the productivity of academics who mother. Gender, Work, and Organizations, 28(S2), 419-433. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12699
Krishnamoorthy, R., & Keating, K. (2021). Education crisis, workforce preparedness, and COVID-19: Reflections and recommendations. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 80(1), 253-274. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12376
Mahmood, S. (2020). Instructional strategies for online teaching in COVID-19 pandemic. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3, 199-203. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.218
McLaughlin, H., Scholar, H., & Teater, B. (2020). Social work education in a global pandemic: Strategies, reflections, and challenges. Social Work Education, 39(8), 975-982. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1834545
Meeuwissen, S., Stalmeijer, R., & Govaerts, M. (2019). Multiple-role mentoring: Mentors’ conceptualisations, enactments, and role conflicts. Medical Education, 53(6), 605-615. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13811
Melvin, A., Tandon, P., Rowe, C., Clohessy, D., & Palermo, T. (2021). Professional and personal impact of the COVID-19 related clinical research. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 91, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2021.16
Nocco, M., McGill, B., Mackenzie, C., Tonietto, R., Dudney, J., Bletz, M., Young, T., & Kuebbing, S. (2021). Mentorship, equity, and research productivity: Lessons from a pandemic. Biological Conservation, 225, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.108966
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2020). Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: Debates and practical guidelines. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220
Padgett, D. (2017). Qualitative methods in social work research. Sage.
Pereira, M. (2020). Researching gender inequalities in academic labor during the COVID-19 pandemic: Avoiding common problems and asking different questions. Gender, Work, and Organization, 28(S2), 498-509. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12618
Ragins, B. (2016). From the ordinary to the extraordinary: High-quality mentoring relationships at work. Organizational Dynamics, 45, 228-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2016.07.008
Ragins, B., Cotton, J., & Miller, J. (2000). Marginal mentoring: The effects of type of mentor, quality of relationship, and program design on work and career attitudes. Academy of Management Journal, 43(6), 1177-1194. https://doi.org/10.2307/1556344
Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. (2016). Research methods for social work. Thompson Brooks/Cole.
Schmidt, E., & Faber, S. (2016). Benefits of peer mentoring to mentors, female mentees, and higher education institutions. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 24(2), 137-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2016.1170560
Schwartz, S., Wiley, J., & Kaplan, C. (2016). Community-building in a virtual teaching environment. Advances in Social Work, 17(1), 15-30. https://doi.org/10.18060/20875
Sela-Vasiliu, S., Miehl, C., Huygeilier, H., Oren-Suissa, M., Gjorgjieva, J., & Gillebert, C. (2023). FENS-Kavli network of excellence: Mentorship during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives, challenges, and opportunities. European Journal of Neuroscience, 58(12), 4423-4437. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15797
Sheridan, L., Murdoch, N., & Harder, E. (2015). Assessing mentoring culture: Faculty and staff perceptions, gaps, and strengths. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 45(4), 423-439. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v45i4.184938
Shermont, H., Pignataro, S., Moonan, M., Memmolo, S., & Murphy, J. (2022). Navigating COVID-19 education challenges: Transitioning an in-person mentoring program to a virtual learning environment. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 1(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1097/NND.0000000000000866
Smith, B., & Lim, M. (2020). How the COVID-19 pandemic is focusing attention on loneliness and social isolation. Public Health Research & Practice, 30(2), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.17031/phrp3022008
Smith, E., Calderwood, P., Storms, S., Lopez, P., & Colwell, R. (2016). Institutionalizing faculty mentoring within a community of practice model. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, 35(1), 35-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/tia2.20033
Toner, J. Reyes, M., Schwartz, S., Parga, J., & Ryan, T. (2022). Emerging issues with remote faculty. Journal of Social Work Education, 58(4), 682-692. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2021.1957737
VanLeeuwen, C., Veletsianos, G., Johnson, N., & Belikov, O. (2021). Never-ending repetitiveness, sadness, loss, and “juggling with a blindfold on:” Lived experiences of Canadian college and university faculty members during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52, 1306-1322. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13065
Zuo, L., & Juvé, A. (2020). Transitioning to a new era: Future directions for staff development during COVID-19. Medical Education, 55(1), 104-107. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14387
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Dana Holcomb
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
