Purpose

Education doctoral (EdD) students (mentees) typically hold full-time leadership positions in education-related fields while completing their degree. The types of support these scholar-practitioners need is unique because of their focus on balancing full-time work, academic, and personal needs. This study aims to explore mentor support systems for mentees in their first and second year of the EdD program through a group mentoring program, which is designed to provide resources and access to mentors to promote successful degree completion in five years or less.

Design/methodology/approach

Mentors participated in monthly presentations and discussions with mentees throughout the 2018–2019 academic year, which were video recorded. At the end of the academic year, mentors partook in an interview or focus group meeting.

Findings

Themes emerged related to mentors’ focus on the dissertation process; emphasis on outreach for support; discussions and work/life balance; selection of presentation topics; perceptions of networking opportunities with mentees; desire to build stronger connections with mentees; and concerns/opinions about the mentoring format.

Research limitations/implications

The design of a mentoring program for EdD mentees varies throughout the doctorate degree pathway. Mentors support mentees in their doctoral journey through presentations and discussions about relevant topics during their first two years in the doctoral program. Additional studies are needed regarding EdD mentoring programs for students in the third year to the completion of the degree.

Originality/value

Few studies exist related to mentoring programs for scholar-practitioners in EdD programs. Results from this research provide EdD faculty and advisors insights to group mentoring and discussion topics for first and second year EdD students, based on the mentors’ perspectives.

中文翻译：

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博士生指导计划中的指导者支持系统

目的

教育博士学位（EdD）的学生（受训者）通常在完成学位期间在与教育有关的领域中担任全职领导职务。这些学者从业者需要的支持类型是独特的，因为他们专注于平衡全职工作，学术和个人需求。这项研究旨在通过小组指导计划探索针对受教育者在教育课程第一年和第二年的指导者支持系统，该系统旨在为指导者提供资源和途径，以促进他们在五年或更短的时间内完成学位。

设计/方法/方法

导师在整个2018-2019学年期间参加了每月与受训者的演讲和讨论，并进行了录像。在学年末，导师参加面试或焦点小组会议。

发现

与导师对论文过程的关注有关的主题浮出水面；强调扩大支持范围；讨论和工作/生活平衡；演讲主题的选择；对与受训者建立交流机会的看法；希望与受训者建立更牢固的联系；以及对指导格式的关注/看法。

研究局限/意义

在整个博士学位课程中，针对EdD受训者的指导计划的设计各不相同。在博士课程的头两年，导师通过有关相关主题的演示和讨论来支持受训者。学位完成后的第三年，需要针对学生的EdD指导计划进行其他研究。

创意/价值

很少有研究与教育学计划中的从业者指导计划有关。这项研究的结果根据指导者的观点，为EdD教师和顾问提供了针对一年级和二年级EdD学生进行小组指导和讨论主题的见解。