In years gone by, professors just taught their subjects. Then, some of them decided that it was important to instill activism in their students. Now that higher education seems to be turning more toward career preparation, should they take a role in mentoring them as to their working lives after college?

That’s the question Sophia Damian examines in today’s Martin Center article.

She writes:

Though their main responsibility is to guide students’ academic growth, professors are increasingly expected to fill the role of career mentor. Surveys conducted by Inside Higher Ed have found that a significant percentage of students and faculty believe that mentorship is a role that professors ought to fill. Given their background and position as academics, are professors equipped to offer such guidance to students?

Evidence suggests that a majority of students think their profs ought to provide some career mentoring but also that a majority of faculty members don’t agree.

Some schools are moving ahead in this direction. Damian writes: “At CUNY, career fellows assist faculty in incorporating career preparation into the classroom and teach professors how they might guide students through career explorations.”

I suspect that career mentoring is better left to people who specialize in providing such advice, who might not be college employees at all. On the other hand, Damian suggests that training professors to give such guidance may be the way to go.