2024 Mentorship Program Welcomes Nearly 150 Individuals from All Career Stages 

Nearly 150 APS members will join this year’s APS Mentorship Program. The program was reinvigorated in 2023 to help the global community of APS members make connections with other professionals as they build new skills to support their career growth.  

This year’s cohort includes 66 mentors and 76 mentees from 12 countries. Participants are matched into mentorship pairs based on their preferences, including career status, geography, and research expertise. APS works to fulfill as many criteria as possible when matching mentees to mentors.  

Once matches are established, paired groups meet regularly over a six-month period to work toward the goals they have each outlined in a mentorship agreement they create at the beginning of the year. APS offers webinars and other materials to help enhance the experience.  

Check out this APS webinar: Making the Most of Your Mentorship Relationship.

Before the mentorship program was relaunched, only undergraduate and graduate students were included. The new program includes professionals at all stages of their careers as well as from academic and non-academic settings—and participation has nearly doubled since last year. 

Sharda Umanath, associate professor at Claremont McKenna College, will serve as a mentor for the first time this year and will be mentoring two people. Umanath sees mentorship as a fundamental and enjoyable part of being in academia.  

“A program like this one allows students to gain a broader perspective than their own context at their home institution by connecting them with mentors across the country and world,” Umanath said. “It’s also an easy first experience in networking and even perhaps developing collaborations, which are both critical and rewarding parts of being an academic.” 

This year’s cohort is the first to feature mentors from industry organizations. Camille Warner is a doctoral candidate at Howard University studying developmental psychology. Warner was matched with a mentor from an industry position this year, and she expects to be able to learn from her mentor’s journey as she plots the course of her own career.  

“I am excited to collaborate with a mentor and grow professionally and personally,” Warner said. “Through this program, I will develop skills that will lead me to success as I finish graduate school and prepare for career opportunities.” 

Representing industry perspectives is an important part of the APS’s vision for the program.  

“As APS immediate past-president Wendy Wood drew attention to last year, data show that nearly half of psychology graduate students in the United States are ultimately employed in the private or public sector. Increasingly, we also hear from scientists who are considering career transitions who are eager to talk with others who have made similar employment changes,” said APS Chief Executive Officer Robert Gropp. “Our mentorship program is a living program that will continue to change and grow in response to the needs of APS members.” 

The program is guided by members of the APS Student Caucus Executive Board as well as APS staff. Emma Karras, a research assistant at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, currently serves as an undergraduate advocate for the board. Karras said the program is a great opportunity for APS members to connect directly with professional expertise and academic support.  

“Our mentees are able to serve as an important connection between established individuals and emerging early career professionals and students, pushing us into the future of the field of psychological sciences globally,” Karras said. “I am especially excited for this year’s cohort as we’ve had a grander amount of interest and participation, in addition to dual participating members who are serving both as a mentor and as mentee, creating an exciting ecosystem of support and development.” 

Learn more about APS’s Mentorship Program.

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