The scientific research group is a unique group. In this group, the relationship between supervisors and graduate students also reflects characteristics that are different from other social relationships.

Source of this article: "Graduate Education Research" Issue 5, 2019

Reprinted from: Academic Journal

Press

The scientific research group is a unique group. In this group, the relationship between the tutor and the graduate students also reflects the relationship with other social relationships. Different characteristics. As a member of this group, whether a supervisor or a graduate student, we can deeply understand the complexity and subtlety of this relationship. However, as scientific researchers, we care about social development and all things in the universe, but we rarely observe ourselves as research objects. Therefore, today recommends this unique article "The Influence of Teachers on the Development of Graduate Students—Qualitative Research Based on Informal Organization Theory" for everyone to enjoy.

The authors of the article are Beijing Normal University professor Lin Jie and doctoral student Chao Yaqun. The phenomena and issues summarized and presented in this article should be familiar to us, so it is very readable. In particular, some of the interview records are very typical and interesting. For example, some doctoral students complained that their supervisor could not take care of themselves and asked him to do everything. As a result, he did not publish a single paper after his Ph.D. Some graduate students complained: The supervisor is like the boss, the senior sister is the contractor, and they are the ones at the bottom. There are also conversation records that reflect the mentor's admiration. For example, a student described that a doctoral student sister often said, "Teacher, we are your fans"...

Isn't this just our own life? Now, let’s enjoy this magical paper.

The impact of mentorship on the development of graduate students

- Qualitative research based on informal organization theory

Abstract: As an informal organizational form of graduate education, mentorship-led mentorships play an important influence on the development of graduate students. According to the informal organization theory, graduate student teachers should have the following characteristics: emphasizing emotional logic, having informal restraint mechanisms, and leading the development of the teacher through authoritative figures. This article conducted in-depth interviews with 16 graduate students at a "double first-class" university in Beijing and found that the influence of mentorships on the development of graduate students is mainly reflected in the three dimensions of knowledge, ability and sociality. Informal interactions between different mentorships, Differences in the organizational characteristics of constraint mechanisms and authority affect differences in the development of graduate students. Some divisions have had a positive impact on all aspects of graduate student development, while many divisions place too much emphasis on the publication of papers, do not adequately cultivate graduate students’ innovative abilities, and neglect the division’s responsibility for educating people. tutors should consciously guide students to innovate, form a teacher atmosphere that encourages innovation, strengthen informal interactions and emotional connections among teacher members, and assume responsibility for students' emotional and personality development.

Keywords: teacher; graduate student; individual development; qualitative research

About the author:

Lin Jie (1975-), male, Chuzhou, Anhui , Professor, Institute of International and Comparative Education, Beijing Normal University;

Chao Yaqun (1993-), female, born in Heze, Shandong, is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of International and Comparative Education, Beijing Normal University.

Postgraduate education usually adopts the tutor responsibility system. Tutor guidance plays an important role in postgraduate training, and a mentor-based system is formed. As the core division organization. Under the leadership of the tutor, the graduate faculty carries out a variety of academic and non-academic activities, with a flexible organizational structure and diverse organizational techniques. Compared with formal organizations and training methods such as departments, divisions show the characteristics of informal organizations. Since the faculty is a primary group composed of graduate students and tutors, the frequency of interactions and the degree of social support are much higher than those of formal organizations, so it plays a direct and important role in the academic and personality development of graduate students. However, issues such as personality development and social capital accumulation of graduate students in the classroom are often ignored by researchers. In addition, as an informal organization, teachers’ sects are spontaneous and arbitrary, which makes research difficult. In recent years, problems such as the conflict between teachers and students and the conflict of interests between teachers and students have become prominent. They are not only individual phenomena, but also group phenomena. Therefore, studying the division as an organizational phenomenon, analyzing the characteristics of the graduate division as an informal organization, and exploring the impact of the division on the overall development of graduate students will help clarify the development mechanism of graduate students in the division, and then improve the organizational construction of the division. of great significance.

Research Questions

Informal organization theory is an important theory in management and originated from Hawthorne Experiment. The founder of modern management theory Chester I. Barnard (Chester I. Barnard) systematically elaborated on the theory of informal organizations, explaining the nature of informal organizations, the relationship between their results and formal organizations and their functions. [1]86-92 Compared with the efficiency logic of formal organizations, informal organizations pay more attention to emotional logic, [2] are often formed spontaneously, [3] usually have no fixed form, and the density often changes, [1] 86 based on customs Informal controls such as or routines serve as a guarantee for organizational operations and satisfy emotional needs, group identity, etc. that formal organizations cannot provide. Informal organizations have leader-like authority figures. Authoritative figures are the result of emotional consensus and recognition among organizational members during interactions, and have a decisive influence on the development and functions of informal organizations. [4] The graduate student division is also an informal organization with the structure and functions of an informal organization.

(1) Teachers meet the emotional needs of members through informal interactions

Informal interactive activities are the means and methods for members of informal organizations to communicate emotions and maintain close relationships, and this interaction is also the inherent driving force for the operation of informal organizations. force. In the division, in addition to routine division meetings or group activities, private interactions between teachers, students, and students are more frequent and can promote the formation of close relationships with each other. There is invisible pressure in scientific research work due to the unknown exploration, especially when scientific research encounters failure or setbacks. The helplessness and frustration need to be vented or comforted. As the main person in charge of students' scientific research, the tutor's support and Encouragement can help students clarify the direction of scientific research and gain spiritual motivation. As "experienced people", senior brothers and sisters can understand the confusion of junior brothers and sisters, provide experience guidance or serve as role models.

(2) The division regulates member behavior through informal social control

Informal organizations use informal social control to regulate and regulate the individual behavior of organizational members, so that individuals maintain a high degree of consistency in behavior, attitudes, values, etc. The sect is also regulated by informal social control. There are few explicitly stated formal systems in the sect. Instead, the normal operation of the sect is achieved through customs and routines. For example, tutors usually require students to be academically rigorous, abide by academic norms, be serious and responsible, and keep their promises. However, there is no explicitly stated system in the division. Instead, tutors teach by words and deeds in daily interactions between teachers and students. Senior students also play a role in passing on the customs and practices of the division, eventually forming informal norms that everyone agrees on by default.

(3) The division leads the development of members through informal authority

In informal organizations, the internal structure has the characteristics of "flattening" and horizontal interaction. The interaction rules based on emotional constraints will eventually spontaneously obey and support. to the core figures recognized by the community. This kind of spontaneous authority has no formal position support or institutional guarantee, so it is an informal authority. In teachers' schools, on the one hand, students' recognition of the tutor's authority is more spontaneously formed based on the interaction between teachers and students. Those tutors with both academic and personal charm are more likely to gain the recognition of students and become the main authority in the teacher's school; on the other hand, , senior students with expertise in academic and interpersonal aspects will also become authoritative figures in the division, becoming a bridge between tutors and other students, active in academic research or resource sharing, and sharing the responsibility of cultivating junior students. Responsibilities.

However, Compared with the ideal organizational characteristics of a division, the characteristics of a division in reality are more complex. For example, some divisions follow the logic of efficiency and lack informal interactions and emotional connections; some divisions have a "laissez-faire" management style that does not form informal constraints. Differences in organizational characteristics between divisions are likely to result in differences in the individual development of graduate students.This study is based on the perspective of informal organization theory, and the question to be explored is: What impact does mentorship have on the individual development of graduate students? What organizational characteristics of divisions lead to similarities and differences in graduate student development?

Research design

This study adopted the case study method of qualitative research, and the selected case was a double first-class research university in Beijing. When selecting graduate student cases, purposive sampling and snowball sampling were mainly used. selected 16 master's and doctoral students from the case university. followed the principle of sample availability and comprehensively considered the grade, subject major, and gender of the interviewed students. , divisional organizational characteristics, etc., the sample was selected to cover most majors and all grades in the case university as much as possible, and try to ensure gender equality of the interviewed students and heterogeneous divisional organizational characteristics. Considering that students of all grades enter the faculty at different times and are affected by the faculty organization to varying degrees, the subjects selected by cover students from the first year of the master's degree to the third year of the doctoral degree.. In addition, differences in the organizational characteristics of divisions will lead to differences in the impact on the development of graduate students. Therefore, when selecting graduate students to be interviewed, we try to cover divisions with different organizational characteristics.

Among the 16 interviewees, there were 10 and 6 master's and doctoral students respectively. The number of men and women was close (7 and 9). The study period covered the first year of master's degree to the third year of doctoral degree (the number of interviewed students in each grade was 2 and 9 respectively). 5 people, 3 people, 2 people, 3 people, 1 person), 10 people and 5 people from humanities and social sciences and science and engineering students. Most of the interviewees were liberal arts graduate students. The main reason is that found through preliminary interviews that most of the divisional organizational activities of science and engineering graduate students connect division members through topics or projects. The organizational cultures of divisions are relatively similar. There are many similarities in the impact on graduate students; in comparison, the activities of liberal arts faculty are more abundant, such as topics, projects, reading seminars, theme seminars, etc. The organizational culture of the faculty is also relatively diverse, and the impact on graduate students The difference is large, Therefore, based on the purpose of exploring the impact of teachers on the development of graduate students, this study selected more liberal arts graduate students as interview objects.

Wang Zhanjun and other scholars proposed a triangular model for graduate student quality evaluation, which includes three dimensions: knowledge, ability and potential. [5]① After coding and analyzing the interview data, it was found that the development of graduate students in the faculty includes two dimensions: knowledge and ability development. Since the potential dimension refers to the performance of graduate students in all aspects after completing their degree studies, this study focuses on the impact of graduate students in the faculty and their current development status. Therefore, the potential dimension is not involved. Research shows that mentors play an important role in the social development of graduate students②. Mentors will affect the emotional and personality development of graduate students. Mentors and graduate students are a community of both academics and personality; [6] Mentors who are full of emotions, rich in emotions, and highly sensitive are more able to infect and inspire graduate students, and are more likely to enter the hearts of graduate students. And cultivate their positive emotional attitude;[7] "Social service-oriented" tutors can provide students with a large number of social resources and social practice participation opportunities. [8]

combined with existing research and coding analysis of the interview data in this study found that the influence of teachers on the development of graduate students is mainly reflected in the three dimensions of knowledge, ability, and social development. Among them, the knowledge dimension mainly refers to the three dimensions of teacher training. Under the influence of teachers, graduate students master and abide by academic norms, understand and apply professional knowledge and methods; the ability dimension refers to the many abilities that graduate students acquire and enhance in teachers, including innovation ability, critical thinking, and academic writing. and publishing ability, as well as academic communication skills; the social dimension refers to the teacher's improvement and improvement of the social characteristics of graduate students, including the emotional development, personality development and accumulation of social capital of graduate students. Different divisions have different informal interactions, restraint mechanisms, and authority. These differences, as the organizational characteristics of the divisions, affect the development of individual graduate students in various dimensions.

The research found

(1) The development of the knowledge dimension of graduate students in the faculty

According to the coding of the interview data, it was found that the vast majority of the interviewed graduate students said that they had gained knowledge growth in the faculty, specifically manifested in academic standards Mastery, acquisition of professional knowledge and methods.Among them, descriptions such as “very rigorous” and “research design and methods are more reasonable” are development manifestations often mentioned by graduate students. Our country's academic degrees are academic research-oriented, focusing on theory and research, and are designed to train university teachers and researchers in scientific research institutions. As an important organizational form for graduate student training, promoting the knowledge accumulation of graduate students has become the proper meaning of teacher activities, and ultimately points to improving the scientific research capabilities of graduate students.

. Teacher reading clubs and theme seminars: Informal restraint mechanisms to promote graduate students’ knowledge development

When asked about the influence of teachers on their knowledge accumulation, most graduate students believe that teacher seminars are important for their professional knowledge and methods It has an important influence on the formation of . Teacher seminars mainly have two organizational forms: reading clubs and theme seminars. Among them, the reading club aims to provide graduate students with extensive and professional basic knowledge, improve students' theoretical and methodological literacy, and lay the foundation for their scientific research activities. “In the first semester of the first semester, the teacher’s meeting was themed around reading. Our teacher’s reading is divided into two types, one is extensive reading, and there will also be a range, such as books within the major, but there is no very specific theme. The main purpose is to expand knowledge or increase basic knowledge; the other is to study a certain topic with a clear purpose. In fact, reading and research are inseparable, and no matter what type of reading, it is helpful. You do research.” (10HFM)

In the opinion of most of the graduate students interviewed, the teachers’ theme seminars have an important impact on their mastery of academic standards and the formation of professional knowledge and methods. themed seminars usually involve faculty members discussing a certain topic, such as a graduate student's proposal report, dissertation, or a certain topic. “The instructors very much encourage everyone to communicate, because what you do is not only done by you, but many people do it. Discussion and communication can allow each other to learn from each other and improve efficiency.” (6SFM) Compared with classroom learning, The goals of teacher-student seminars are clearer, the number of people is smaller, the members interact more closely, and the trust relationship is stronger. Moreover, there are differences in knowledge accumulation between tutors and students. This multi-level, multi-grade academic guidance and exchange makes low-level students Grade 1 students can gain more knowledge accumulation. "When I participate in the thesis defense of senior fellow students or provide comments on graduation thesis, I will also learn something from it, such as writing standards, formats, language skills, and how to write literature reviews." (7HFM)

. Tutors and senior students: Informal authority that affects the knowledge development of graduate students

When asked how authoritative figures in the faculty affect their knowledge growth, most graduate students believe that the mentor's example and guidance, as well as the active help of their senior brothers and sisters are of great importance. It has an important impact. When the division is small, the tutor has the energy to provide one-on-one academic guidance to the students and will consciously cultivate the students' academic standards. "The tutor is a very rigorous, meticulous and serious person. she will take care of everything in detail." They guide us step by step, and some brothers and sisters may revise an article about 20 times before publishing it" (6SFM); when the division is larger and the number of people is large, the instructor's energy and time cannot take into account the guidance of all students. The senior students with more academic attainments in the division took the initiative to share the responsibility of cultivating the younger students. , "The senior students will share a lot of learning experiences and methods, and those with the same research direction will take us to do projects together." He gave us a lot of suggestions and help for our project proposal. Sometimes when we encounter problems, we first ask our seniors and seniors for advice, and then go to our tutors.” (1HMM) “When a senior student gave her thanks for her graduation defense, she said that she was most grateful to her seniors and seniors. Not putting the instructor first "(16HFD)

It is worth noting that some graduate students interviewed believe that their knowledge development in the teacher's school is almost at a standstill "not oppressing" and "freezing" are these. A metaphor often mentioned by graduate students. In their opinion, the leadership style of their supervisor is an important reason for their current situation. That is to say, the "laissez-faire" leadership style of tutors has caused the graduate students to lack a restraint mechanism, and the graduate students' personal lack of enthusiasm for learning has led to the stagnation of their academic growth. "I haven't done anything this year. Maybe I'm tired, but I think it's because I don't have impulses and ideas. Maybe I've done too little in this area before. As time goes by, I will become inert and I will become less and less interested. Go in. If you can’t learn with a very serious teacher and he forces you to learn, it will probably get better after a while.” (2SFM)

Generally speaking, most of the interviewed graduate students believe that teachers are not good at teaching. It has had a positive impact on his mastery of academic norms and the acquisition of professional knowledge and methods. Among them, the authoritative figures in the division are the key to the impact. The tutor's rigorous attitude towards academics and the excellent academic performance of individual senior brothers and sisters. It affects students' learning attitude in a subtle way; in addition, the informal restraint mechanism formed by the teachers is also an important factor. In these teachers, there are agreed-upon reading clubs and theme seminars, and students can learn from the reports and discussions of tutors and other members. Acquire knowledge and methods through discussions. However, among the few divisions that have not had a positive impact on students' knowledge development, the most prominent point is that there are no authority figures or informal restraint mechanisms in the divisions. Tutors usually have a "laissez-faire" leadership style and have no control over students' There are no or very low requirements for development, and students are rarely actively guided, allowing students to develop freely. This results in less interaction between teachers and students, and between students and students, resulting in minimal development of knowledge gained by students in the classroom, especially those with autonomy. Poor students.

(2) The development of graduate student ability dimensions in the faculty

Through the analysis of interview data, it was found that some graduate students interviewed believed that the mentorship had a positive impact on their ability development, mainly manifested in innovation ability and critical thinking. Formation, improvement of academic writing and publishing skills, and improvement of academic communication skills. However, compared with the universal growth of graduate students in the knowledge dimension, the development of graduate students in the ability dimension appears to be uneven. Most of the graduate students interviewed believe that the mentorship has improved their academic writing and publishing skills and academic communication skills. Nearly half of the graduate students believe that their critical thinking skills have improved. Only a few graduate students believe that the mentorship has promoted the formation of their innovative abilities.

. The development of graduate students’ academic publishing and academic communication skills

Academic publishing is increasingly recognized as a major indicator of graduate students’ scientific research capabilities. Most graduate students believe that their academic writing and publishing abilities have improved. This is mainly reflected in the fact that they have published Academic papers, "I have published 6 papers, all of which were done under the tutor's project." (8SMM) "I have published 4 papers, but two of them are translations, both of which are related to the teacher's theme seminar. "(10HFM) Most graduate students believe that tutoring also plays a role in promoting their academic communication skills. Academic communication skills mainly include the improvement of academic language expression and academic communication methods. "I think the language expression ability has improved. I have learned a lot. Sometimes I help my tutor explain the research projects I am responsible for to undergraduates in class, and I have also learned a lot. My senior brother is very eloquent, logical, and has good interpersonal expression and communication skills. I also learned a lot. I will learn from him consciously.” (7HFM) “The teacher may like to train people’s shortcomings and make up for your shortcomings. For example, some seniors may not be very expressive, so the teacher will let them work on a project. People in charge, etc., communicate with many people.” (6SFM)

Interestingly, those graduate students who have less academic publications show a “love-hate relationship” with academic writing and publishing: in acknowledging the importance of academic writing and publishing. At the same time, they also expressed doubts and helplessness about the academic evaluation mechanism that places too much emphasis on paper publication. "We have very few mentoring projects, and they are basically taken over by our mentors. We develop freely and are basically free-range. As long as you finish the SCI paper required for doctoral graduation, our big boss is not responsible for the paper. The requirements are very demanding. You may not have an article in it for three to five years. In fact, if you can't wait for five years, the school will have already opened it for you by then." (14SMD) In ​​addition, a few students believe that their academic writing and publishing abilities have been hindered by their teachers. They believe that their tutors have too much transactional work and that they have no time to take care of their studies. "During my master's degree, I published Four core papers, but during the PhD year, I had no academic output. My supervisor’s administrative work took up a lot of my time, such as financial reimbursement, organizing conferences, training work, etc. If the tutor usually has any chores, I will take care of them. She can't take care of herself in various aspects of life, and we have to help her with everything. We have to help her install Windows on her computer, as well as office software and WeChat, down to the smallest detail. ”(13HFD)

. The development of graduate students’ critical thinking abilities

Nearly half of the graduate students interviewed believe that the mentorship has promoted the development of their critical thinking abilities, This mainly depends on the intentional guidance of the instructors and the relatively good provision provided by the mentorship. Multiple opportunities for academic discussions have created an organizational atmosphere that encourages criticism. “My instructor has encouraged me since the beginning of my career to speak more, express my opinions more, and even criticize and question more, and find faults with others. With the increase in my knowledge base and the conscious training of my mentors, my critical thinking has become much stronger than before. Now I know that when I see a problem, I can't just say it is the same as others, and I will make my own judgment." (10HFM) “Critical thinking is mainly reflected in when we give comments to each other’s articles, I will look at their thinking angle and how the questions are raised. Next time I ask questions to others, I will also do it. Pay attention to these aspects". (4HMM)

And those students who think that their teachers have no influence on their critical thinking usually think that in addition to their own reasons, the teacher's lack of attention is also an important factor. "As for critical ability, I think it is possible It is the influence of the stage you are in. I think you have to be familiar with this thing before you can make suggestions or criticisms about it. For example, if an algorithm is mentioned in a paper and you think this algorithm is not very good, if you say When commenting on this algorithm at the group meeting, saying that the algorithm is not very good can still be regarded as critical ability. I think it still requires a certain understanding. Only if you are familiar with this thing can you make suggestions or criticize it. If we talk about If the team meeting cannot recognize this ability, it is because we are not at the current stage, or it may be because we do not pay attention to cultivating this thing. ” (2SFM)

. The development of graduate students’ innovation ability

However, most of the interviewed graduate students believe that their teachers have no impact on their innovation ability. Based on the analysis of the interview data, it can be concluded that on the one hand, some individual graduate students lack innovative awareness and believe that It is difficult to clarify the connotation and measurement standards of innovation. "I have never known what innovation is. I think academic innovation is too difficult to measure and cannot be measured by any standards. There are many things in my mind, but I write Nothing comes out one after another, but do you think what you write is innovative? No, it seems like there are a lot of spam articles. "(15HFD) On the other hand, some departments do not encourage innovation and emphasize the use of existing methods. Students do not have the opportunity to participate in innovative research. "We have no innovation. What we do is engineering, products, and applications. There will be nothing." When it comes to innovation, if you want to have your own ideas, your boss will say that this is inefficient. It takes longer to use your own method than it does to use the method already available in the laboratory, so you must choose the latter. ” (6SFM)

Only a few graduate students interviewed believe that the division has a positive impact on their innovation ability. Among these divisions, under the guidance and promotion of mentors, the division has formed an atmosphere that encourages innovation, “In our division There should be constant divergence and innovation inside the school. The teacher really wants you to come up with different things and hear different voices, so I think it is really diverging. In fact, why does the teacher ask everyone to come and listen to the topic report? I hope you can see something new from other people's papers. For example, one of my fellow students also added some ideas that I reported at the division meeting when opening the topic.There are often academic and explosive discussions in our WeChat group. For example, if someone brings up a certain educational phenomenon, everyone will start to roar about this issue in the group and express their opinions. (3HMM)

In addition, was interviewed by a few Graduate students express their dissatisfaction and helplessness with their divisions and often use "moving bricks" as a metaphor for their status in the division. For divisions with larger scale and more projects, has formed a "mentor-senior brother and sister-junior and junior sister" "Such an informal constraint mechanism on project division of labor, and this constraint mechanism hinders the ability development of junior students to a certain extent. They need to do a large number of tasks that have nothing to do with their own research interests," instructor said a few days ago We were assigned several tasks and asked my senior sister to assign them to us (first-year Ph.D. students). The parts assigned to me were completely irrelevant to my research direction. What I wrote could not be published, but it would waste a lot of time, but no It definitely won’t work. The mentor is like the boss, the senior sister is the contractor, and we are the ones at the bottom who move the bricks. ”(11SMD)

Most of the interviewed graduate students have developed in academic paper writing and publishing, and academic communication skills. In the faculty organization, the tutor’s authority plays the most critical role. When the tutor has many topics or projects and is very important to the graduate students, Faculty whose students diligently supervise and guide graduate students usually publish more papers. Tutors and seniors not only serve as authorities in improving students' academic communication skills, but also proactively provide students with practical opportunities to improve their academic performance. Communication skills. Those interviewed graduate students who have improved their critical thinking and innovation abilities believe that the active encouragement and guidance of their mentors play an important role. Under the guidance of their mentors, the division has further formed an atmosphere that encourages criticism and innovation, or It is said that an informal restraint mechanism has been formed. However, in a department with a large number of projects and a large number of students, when the tutor "forces" a large number of projects that have nothing to do with the student's research direction, or the "authoritarian" tutor forces the student. While serving their personal affairs, it hinders the development of students' abilities. With the increasing squeeze and penetration of administrative power, academic careers are being mixed with more and more non-academic work, such as financial reimbursement, administrative affairs, and conference planning. , tutor's personal affairs, etc. These matters are often led by the tutor, and the graduate student is responsible for the specific implementation. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive. It does not require strong abilities and will not help the students' academic ability growth. On the contrary, it will take up too much time and energy. And affecting students' ability development runs counter to the original intention of cultivating graduate students' abilities.

(3) The development of social dimensions of graduate students in teachers.

Based on the coding of interview data, it can be concluded that the development of social dimensions of graduate students in teachers includes. Three aspects: emotional development, personality development, and accumulation of social capital. However, when asked about the impact of mentorship on the social dimension of graduate students, the attitudes of graduate students are very different, even completely opposite, and are usually accompanied by "disapproval of mentorship". Some graduate students believe that the mentorship has had a great positive impact on their social development, while others believe that the mentorship has no impact on them, or even has a negative impact.

. The influence of mentors on the emotional development of graduate students

Some graduate students believe that mentors have had an important impact on their emotional development. They often reveal strong positive emotions towards their mentors and unabashedly express their "very much admiration" and "very fondness" for their mentors. "Love, "Like brothers and sisters" is their metaphor for other students, "I am still in the position of a fan girl, I like and admire her very much. She has always been considerate of me and will help me with whatever help I need. The relationship between me and my junior sisters and brothers is also very good, so good that I can wear a pair of pants, just like brothers and sisters, I will tell them any good or bad things. "(9HFM) "I think my tutor should be the teacher who has the greatest influence on me in my study career. He is not a very serious teacher. When he is with us, he is the kind of joking and like a friend. He is really a very cute person. As long as we are free, we will rush to the teacher's office to play with him. He will make tea for us, chat, talk about music and so on. I admire him very much. A sister who is a doctoral student often says, "Teacher, we are your crushes." ”(5HFM)

However, other graduate students believe that tutors have no impact on their emotional development. They usually have a rational or prudent attitude towards tutors and believe that the relationship between tutors and students is more of a superior and subordinate relationship. The relationship, or work relationship, is not mixed with personal feelings. " basically rarely talks about life issues with the tutor. You suddenly ran over to your teacher and said that you and your boyfriend were having conflicts. I understand this kind of problem." This kind of relationship should be unrealistic in most relationships. I think it would be difficult for a group that is more scientific to talk about this kind of topic. " (2SFM) "Because the tutor is in charge of administrative matters, she wants to maintain authority. Just listen when she talks and don't interrupt. When she tells you something, you have to do it quickly. She won't ask you questions. No matter what difficulties you encounter, she only cares about whether you have finished your work and what the result is... My classmate dare not tell her anything about her life, because the teacher will not care about you at all. When you talk about this Sometimes the teacher will stop you, 'Don't tell me this!' That's what the instructor said. "(13HFD)

. The influence of mentorship on the personality development of graduate students

Many graduate students interviewed said that mentorship had a great change in their personality, and the formation of their three views, the clarification of life ideals, and the improvement of their character were profound. Influenced by the mentor and the atmosphere of the teacher. "My three views were shaped by my mentor, and she is the most influential on my life ideals. Why am I determined to continue this research direction? First, I originally liked it, and second, under the influence of my mentor, you will feel that you have found a direction in life. "(9HFM) "Our school has a relatively good atmosphere in the entire college. Dad X (the instructor) is a kind and gentle person. He doesn't fight for many things, which leads to the same personality for us. He pays great attention to our all-round development, not only in study, but also in life issues and emotional issues. He cares about them all. "(3HMM) "His personality has a great influence on me. He is funny, rigorous and serious. First of all, he is very generous and generous as a person. These two aspects have a greater influence on me. " (12HMD)

It is worth noting that these graduate students usually believe that the influence of their teachers on their personality development exceeds their influence on their academic aspects, which is exactly what the formal organization of the department lacks in promoting student development. " My mentor has had a great influence on my mentality and the way I look at problems. Of course, I have definitely improved academically, but I think it is more of a change in the way I deal with things. Not only teachers, but once I was chatting with a doctoral student sister, and I talked about a topic that I was interested in. After a while, I had forgotten about it, but the senior sister suddenly sent me links to several books, saying that you are not interested in this. Well, I found a lot of books for you, and I suddenly felt very moved. Just like what our tutor has always taught us, we must be sincere and careful towards people. " (5HFM)

However, some graduate students believe that their mentor has no impact on their personality development, or even has a negative impact on them. They often call their mentor "boss" and regard themselves as people who work for the boss. The relationship between teachers and students is Students who believe that their mentors have a negative impact on their personality development often blame the mentor's personality and the organizational atmosphere of the mentor. "The boss is a very controlling person and wants everything." Things can be completely controlled by him, and we basically obey him. He doesn't care about the process of making things, only the results. He has a bad temper and can curse, which affects my mood at work. This process is not very pleasant. Most of the time, he will tell me what I didn't do well. I feel that my self-confidence is frustrated... There are three dropouts in the school. , I had a falling out with my tutor, and the tutor made the atmosphere in the laboratory not very good.” (6SFM)

. The impact of mentorship on the accumulation of social capital of graduate students

When asked about the impact of mentorship on the accumulation of social capital, some graduate students believe that mentorship has expanded their personal connections, which will help their future academic development. Development, especially job hunting and employment. The accumulation of social capital mainly comes from the support of authoritative figures in the division. Tutors connect graduated students through WeChat groups, division dinners and other activities, forming a interpersonal network in the division. The relationship network provides academic and employment resources for students who are still in the school. “The senior brother is relatively authoritative in our WeChat group, and we will follow his opinions regardless of what he says. Daddy Seniors who have graduated before will also share teacher recruitment information in our group. ” (3HMM)

Other graduate students believe that the social capital provided by the tutor is too little. hopes that the tutor can expand their network, especially establish connections with graduates, and lay the foundation for finding a good job in the future. . In their view, personal relationships have an important impact on future employment, and may even determine whether you can enter a good workplace. Building a personal network is a piece of cake for tutors, so they will complain about tutors. "Inaction" in this regard. "I think teachers should have a good temper, because if they have a good temper, those seniors who have graduated may have a deeper relationship with the laboratory, and the relationship between the seniors may be closer. This will have a better impact on the work and life of the younger brothers and sisters in the future. For example, there are some teachers in our college who basically have a workplace where all their students are, so it is easy to get in. The teacher doesn't come to every dinner party in the laboratory. If the teacher comes, maybe the senior brothers and sisters who graduated before will come back to get together. " (6SFM)

Some graduate students believe that they have developed in terms of emotion, personality and social capital, among which mentors are the most critical influencing factor. Among these divisions, mentors tend to have a gentle personality and actively care about students' lives, becoming They serve as role models for students' all-round development, thus affecting students' personality, emotions and emotions. Tutors will also actively build interpersonal networks for students to provide them with more social capital; frequent informal interactions among members are also an important influencing factor. , so that the relationship between the tutor members is closer, and the students receive more emotional support. On the contrary, for those students who think that their emotional and personality development have not changed or are even negatively affected, the tutors almost never take the initiative to care about the students' lives or emotions. The contact between students is limited to academic or work, and there are less informal interactions between the members of the faculty, and the relationship is alienated. The mentor does not play an emotional support role; and the tutor does not use his own resources to build an interpersonal network for the students, which becomes However, one of the main reasons why students feel that their social capital is limited is also reflected in the fact that in the academic field, the clique inheritance relationship of certain divisions extends to the social workplace and between students in the same division. An open social capital network is formed due to the relationship between mentors. Students in the middle of the network can obtain more and better employment opportunities, while those students outside the network are excluded by some social capital and compete for the same job. At work, you are in a vulnerable position.

Summary and Discussion

First, the impact of divisions on the development of graduate students is complex and diverse. There are also many differences among individual graduate students. Even in the same division, the impact on different graduate students is also different; nevertheless, the impact of divisions on graduate students is different. There are still many commonalities in the influence of the graduate student group: most faculty have promoted the acquisition of academic norms, the mastery of professional knowledge and methods, the improvement of paper writing and publishing abilities, the improvement of academic communication skills, and the acquisition of social capital; nearly half of the faculty The major departments have a positive impact on the critical thinking ability of graduate students; however, most departments have a small positive impact on the innovative ability of graduate students; most departments have a certain impact on the emotional development and personality development of graduate students, and a few departments have a certain impact on the emotional development and personality development of graduate students. It had no impact, or even had a negative impact.

Second, from the analysis of the factors that influence the development of graduate students, the informal interaction method, restraint mechanism and authority of the tutor are the three factors that lead to the differences in the individual development of graduate students. From the perspective of graduate students who have developed all three dimensions of knowledge, ability and sociality, their mentorships have the following characteristics: In terms of informal interactions, mentorship members have more interactions and close connections, and graduate students can follow the mentorship obtain more emotional support; in terms of informal authority, tutors often have a "democratic" leadership style, not only guiding students' academic development, but also taking the initiative to care about students' lives and emotions. Senior students play a role model among teachers; In terms of the informal restraint mechanism, the division has formed customs or conventions that members agree on and consciously abide by, such as a rigorous attitude towards academics, "the big one leads the small ones", etc. In the eyes of those interviewed graduate students who have little development in various dimensions, their teachers often do not have the above characteristics. According to the interviewed graduate students whose development has been negatively affected, their supervisors usually have strong personalities, manifested in "autocratic" leadership styles and a repressive and tense divisional organizational atmosphere.

Third, only a few divisions have had a positive impact on the innovative ability of graduate students. This mainly relies on the intentional guidance of instructors and the democratic and relaxed atmosphere of the divisions. However, most departments place too much emphasis on the publication of papers and neglect the cultivation of graduate students' innovative abilities. The current academic evaluation method is "discussing heroes based on papers". For graduate students, more publications usually mean better workplaces, academic reputation, and welfare benefits. "A doctor without articles is like a concubine with no heirs in the harem." The publication of papers has even become the "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the heads of graduate students. Under the influence of this evaluation system of research-oriented universities that places too much emphasis on paper publication, some faculty seminars have become "paper publication seminars". Paper publication has almost become the only criterion for evaluating graduate students' scientific research ability, and as for their innovation ability Whether it has been improved or not is difficult to see and measure in the short term. Under the pressure of scientific research performance, it seems to be less important.

Fourth, some tutors have had a positive impact on students' personality development. The tutors have even become the "most influential" people in students' learning careers and changed their life ideals. However, there are still some departments that do not pay attention to "emotional logic" and overemphasize "efficiency logic", which has little positive impact on the personality development of graduate students. Mei Yiqi once said that the importance of university education lies in personality. Teachers should not only specialize in imparting clear knowledge, but also set an example for students' cultivation, will and emotions. [9] Most graduate students go directly to graduate school after graduating from undergraduate degree. They have little social experience, and their outlook and personality have not yet been finalized. The mentor's example and guidance will affect the construction of students' complete personality. However, some tutors, especially those in science and engineering, completely shirk their responsibility for the personality development of graduate students. What's more, the teacher development of individual tutors, especially the "individual development" is insufficient, such as the lack of good emotional control ability, which leads to a tense atmosphere in the teacher's school, a decrease in students' self-confidence and even dropouts. As a typical informal organization,

division plays an irreplaceable role in the development of graduate students compared with formal organizations such as departments.(See Table 1) The influence of departmental organizations on the development of graduate students is mainly realized through formal rules and regulations. Its essence is the interrelationship stipulated by departmental policies and what should be done to effectively complete the goal of graduate student training. Various interpersonal interaction models clearly defined by rules and systems are also a system design and implementation that emphasizes measurable training goals, the pursuit of standardization and efficiency in the training process, and the emphasis on standardization of training results. As a system of values ​​and beliefs expressed in the interpersonal relationships between tutors and students under their guidance, mentorship is an informal interpersonal interaction model. The impact of mentorship on the development of graduate students is largely affected by group emotions (attitudes). Impact. First of all, many divisions provide a unique way of functioning for graduate students’ knowledge, ability and social development, that is, multi-level and multi-grade ideological collision and transfer, mutual help with emotional care and common value orientation, and cooperation with the school. Compared with the "mass production" of graduate students by department organizations, the mentorship takes care of the overall development of each individual graduate student to a great extent; secondly, the mentorship can play a vital role in the emotional development and personality development of graduate students that are ignored by the formal organization. is an important influence; finally, the "faction" of the faculty with the tutor as the core affects the employment opportunities and career development prospects of graduate students to a great extent. In reality, some divisions lack the characteristics of informal organizations, and their organizational structures and functions need to be improved.

Table 1 Comparison of the impact of departmental organizations and divisional organizations on graduate student development

Note:

① The knowledge dimension represents graduate students The basic theories, professional knowledge and methodologies that need to be mastered, understood and applied; the capability dimension integrates many abilities that graduate students need to acquire and enhance, mainly including scientific research ability, innovation ability, academic communication ability and employment transferability ability, etc.; the potential dimension It indicates the performance and long-term development potential of graduate students in all aspects after completing their degree based on the accumulation of knowledge and abilities, including academic development potential, career development potential, etc.

② Social development mainly includes individuals acquiring the moral qualities, values, and behavioral norms necessary for social life through social learning, forming positive life attitudes and behavioral habits, participating in social practice to form relevant social relationships, social attributes, and accumulating social capital, etc. .

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