Guiding Online Students in a Crisis: An Intervention for Mentoring Educational Leadership Doctoral Candidates

Abstract

This pedagogical case focuses on the online mentoring of educational leadership doctoral candidates in a protracted crisis. Relevant theories and problems of practice in doctoral education are reviewed. The COVID-19 Dyadic Online Mentoring Intervention was a faculty mentor’s dyadic mentoring initiative for guiding 19 mentees’ social justice-oriented dissertations. Beneficiaries’ responses spanning 2020 to 2021 indicated that effective academic mentoring, progress, and success resulted from 10 online strategies they identified. The research-based support strategies and six-step intervention suggest positive impacts with electronically delivered mentoring that is culturally responsive. Takeaways and possibilities for university leadership faculties, doctoral students, and institutions are included.