Exploring Mentoring in the Context of Team Science

Despite an increasing amount of research into team science and collaboration, little is known about post-doctoral scholars' pathways to becoming independent researchers, particularly as it relates to the mentoring relationship. The purpose of our study was to explore if and how the team science framework promotes collaboration and the development of independent researchers from mentees' and mentors' perspectives. A convenience sample of faculty mentors and postdoctoral mentees, participated in semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed three themes for the mentees: working with others, evaluating mentoring, exploring resources, and five themes for the mentors: elaborating on scholarly productivity, mentoring style, setting team culture, strategies to develop T32 scholars, and evaluating program qualities. The findings showed that scholars were engaged in an atmosphere of collaboration fostered by their mentors and that mentors encouraged scholars' capacity for scientific thinking. Future studies should acquire the perspectives of all team members to examine how teams function.