Peer mentoring for tenure-track faculty.

Abstract

Four tenure-track nursing faculty members at a large, research-intensive university came together to help each other learn the role of faculty scholar and to provide discipline, critique, and collegiality for each other with the goal of building research careers. Peer mentoring is usually construed more as senior faculty mentoring newer faculty. In this model, new faculty members mentor each other based on the knowledge gained in their doctoral programs and through sharing experiences with their own mentors. The value of this strategy includes building relationships among diverse faculty members, creating opportunities for collaboration on research projects, and developing camaraderie among members that might not otherwise develop. One year after implementing this innovative strategy for faculty peer mentoring, group members report success in individual and collective scholarship productivity, more research collaboration, improved mutual expertise, and stronger relationships with each other.