Effective Student Mentoring: Navigating Difficult Mentoring Relationships
Webinar
Date of Webinar: : March 26, 2026We were pleased to welcome Dr. Becky Wai-Ling Packard, Mary E. Woolley Professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College, to today’s webinar on “Navigating Difficult Conversations in Mentoring.” Dr. Packard drew on decades of research to explore how mentors can deliver feedback that is both honest and affirming, why feedback conversations are so emotionally complex, and how message framing shapes the way mentees receive and act on the guidance they’re given. Her work reminds us that effective mentoring requires not just the right words, but an awareness of the broader pressures mentees are navigating every day.
Want to explore further? Check out Dr. Packard’s book, Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Underrepresented Students: A Research-Based Guide for Faculty and Administrators
MentorPRO and our Learning Academy have drawn on Dr. Packard’s work.
