Successful mentors in academia: are they teachers, sponsors and/or collaborators?

Mentors in academia may act as teachers, sponsors and/or collaborators. However, so far there was no evidence on which role mentors should enact to best promote their mentees’ careers. This paper focuses on mentors in academia who are not the academic advisor. We provide first evidence on the relationship between the perceived role of mentors as teachers, sponsors and/or collaborators and mentees’ subsequent academic career success. Specifically, we find that mentees who perceive their mentors as sponsors who extend their social networks are most successful – in particular if they perceive their mentors also as teachers. Further, we find that collaborating with mentors who are not their academic advisors on joint research projects has negative implications for mentees’ subsequent career success.